3251: Time Machine Conversation
| Time Machine Conversation |
 Title text: It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians. |
Explanation
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This is one of 44 incomplete explanations: This page was created in the future. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
Cueball uses a time machine to travel to the Iron Age and has a conversation with a prehistoric Hairbun. She seems to be a farmer since she's holding a pretty modern-looking hoe.
It's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English. Yet somehow they understand each other's colloquialisms. However, Hairbun doesn't understand the words for some modern concepts: compass and spoiler.
The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, but it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD. The title text points out that the Polynesian islands were populated long before this time, and they travelled on to Australia, so they must have had other methods of marine navigation.
The modern meaning of "spoiler" didn't arise until the 1970's. Spoiler warnings became common on Usenet newsgroups in the late 1980's.
Transcript
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This is one of 39 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page! |
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]
- Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?
- Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.
- Cueball: Cool.
- Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]
- Cueball: I'm sorry.
- Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]
- Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?
- Hairbun: The what?
- Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?
- Hairbun: What are you talking about?
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]
- Cueball: It does sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.
- Hairbun: What's a spoiler?
- Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.
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Spoilers for boats. 64.201.132.210 21:25, 27 May 2026 (UTC)
The barman says "Sorry, we don't serve time-travellers". A time-traveller walks into a bar. 81.179.199.253 21:31, 27 May 2026 (UTC)
Before explanation/transcript --OceanLord (talk) 21:38, 27 May 2026 (UTC)
Cool I’ve never been early enough to see an explanation-less comic also help me I’ve never commented before did I mess it up :( 73.148.10.13 (talk) 21:47, 27 May 2026 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- You messed up slightly -- you forgot to sign your comment with 4 tildes. Barmar (talk) 21:48, 27 May 2026 (UTC)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation Sebastian --88.217.185.170 21:50, 27 May 2026 (UTC)
i think it should be "this page was created in the past" not "this page was created in the future". im changing that (its more like present here cause its 22:15, 27 May 2026 (UTC))
"'North Star'? I guess I'm not familiar with that. What's a 'north'? ... Primary direction, you say? So it's the direction the sun appears every morning?" 2604:2D80:AB87:B700:5456:ED28:D284:B682 23:08, 27 May 2026 (UTC) Add comment
