Editing 485: Depth

{{comic
| number    = 485
| date      = October 6, 2008
| title     = Depth
| image     = depth.png
| titletext = The Planck length is another thousand or two pixels below the comic.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is a companion piece to [[482: Height]], which explored a {{w|logarithmic scale}} from the edge of the observable universe down to the Earth's surface. ''Depth'' continues the process, viewing logarithmically smaller scales from Earth's atmosphere down to the interior of a single {{w|proton}}. This combination is reminiscent of Charles and Ray Eames' 1977 short film [http://youtu.be/0fKBhvDjuy0 Powers of Ten].

Here's a walk through the entire comic:

* At the top we see a cutaway view of a story apartment complex. From left to right are a [[Grownups]] reference, [[Megan]] {{w|exorcising}} {{w|Windows Vista}}, [[Ponytail]] and Megan playing {{w|Guitar Hero}} or a similar game, [[Cueball]] at a desk, and what appear to be some sexytimes.
* The view descends into Cueball's tower PC.
* Entering the computer's internals, we see a mouse plugged into the PS/2 (6-pin mini-DIN) connector. This is a visual pun, since the mouse in an actual rodent and not a handheld device.
* Next we dive into the CPU. We see a multi-layered pun on the question "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" There may be a pun with a chip's connector pin, but the more obvious reference is Randall's answer of 32,767 = 2<sup>15</sup> - 1, the largest possible value of a signed 16-bit integer. Adding one rolls back over to -32,768, which is 32,768 devils or "negative angels." (See [[571: Can't Sleep]] for a similar joke and a more elaborate explanation.)
* A blood-sucking mosquito appears to be "leeching" a torrent.
* A {{w|segfault}} is a problem with memory access.
* We zoom into a memory unit on the CPU. Cueball is being {{w|rickrolled}}, as indicated by the label "pixel on Rick Astley's shoulder."
* A "fork();" command points at one of several unlabeled spermatazoa. Forking and sperm are capable of spawning "child processes." Groan.
* {{w|Peter Norton}} is the founder of {{w|Norton Antivirus}}. He is shown fighting a biological virus, rather than informatic malware.
* Showing the relative scale of carbon nanotubes, the suggestion is that these then lead on to a more megastructural Space Elevator, for which carbon nanotubes are often cited as a suitably strong component needed for the cable.
* We soon zoom into a silicon atom in the CPU. In the {{w|electron cloud}}, the squiggles made out of arrows are {{w|Feynman diagram}}s. A Feynman diagram in the shape of a stick figure is saying "Sup?", a pun on the "Sup" particle (supersymmetric partner 'squark' to the Up quark) and an abbreviation of the greeting "What's up?."
* An 'iPod Femto' is shown, as a pun on the 'iPod Nano' (both are {{w|SI prefixes}}).
* Brian Greene is a theoretical physicist and {{w|Popular science|pop scientist}} who discusses the nature of the universe. The picture of him knitting is a pun on {{w|string theory}} and PBS miniseries, {{w|The Fabric of the Cosmos}}.
* The {{w|Planck length}} (<big>ℓ</big><sub>P</sub>) is the smallest theoretically measurable distance, defined by three fundamental constants in physics: the {{w|speed of light}} in a vacuum (c), {{w|Planck constant|Planck's constant}} (h), and the {{w|gravitational constant}} (G). The Planck length is vastly smaller than any known particle, and modern physics is a long way from being able investigate such a scale.

[[1162: Log Scale]] and [[482: Height]] are other comics about the use of log scales.

==Transcript==
:Sizes Accurate on a vertical log scale
:[Series of images of characters doing various things. The things they are doing are listed in left to right order.]
:Cueball and Megan playing in a ball pen 
:Megan using witchcraft to ban vista "Out, Vista!"
:Ponytail and Megan play Rock Band 
:Man and woman are having "fun" on a shaking bed.
:[Below this series of images, an image of a man on the computer.]
:Cueball is on a computer and the image expands as it goes down. Here are the labels from left to right, up to down:
:CD 
:DVD
:Case
:North Bridge
:PS/2
:Mouse (rodent)
:RAM
:CPU Socket Pin
:32,767 Angels Dancing (one more and they'd roll over and become {{w|Two's complement|32,768 Devils}}), Rice, Torrent (a bug), CPU, upcoming segfault
:dust mite
:hair
:OVUM
:Data (a pixel on Rick Astley's shoulder), rust mite, fork();
:Peter Norton fighting a baxteriophage
:memory
:carbon nanotubes
:space elevator
:a line of silicon (Si), Electron Cloud, a man made out of arrows saying "sup?"
:silicon nucleus
:IPod femto
:Brian Greene knitting furiously ''clank, clunk''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Guitar Hero]]