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Revision as of 16:59, 20 November 2012
Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki! We already have 5 comic explanations!
(But there are still 3256 to go. Come and add yours!)
Latest comic
| Side Effect |
 Title text: Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird. |
Explanation
This comic takes the concept of medication side-effects ad absurdum. The side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure described by Beret Guy is entirely precedented, however, sensitivity to gravitational waves is far less normal.[citation needed] Due to the entirely normal first side effect, Ponytail initially misses the gravitational wave side effect. She is about to find out what that is about.
Gravitational waves, to oversimplify, are waves of distortion in spacetime caused by fast-moving gravitational objects such as black holes orbiting each other. They travel at the speed of light and can be measured by precise instruments (interferometers) which detect the ever-so-slight stretching and squishing caused by gravitational waves. As a side-effect of his medication, Beret Guy exhibits the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave much stronger than normal, to the degree that it is visible to the naked eye. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from an earlier comic that it is stapled to his head. Alternatively, it may be part of the strange power the medicine makes him exhibit.
This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. By way of comparison, the most sensitive current ground-based laser interferometer, LIGO, has light storage arms which are 4 km in length, and with strong gravitational waves, it experiences changes in the distance between the ends of the arms by at most roughly 10−18 meters, or 1 attometer. The relative change is thus about 2.5 × 10-22. If Beret Guy is experiencing distortions of about a quarter of his height, the relative change is 0.25, larger than LIGO's by a factor of about 1021. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.
"The chirp" described in the title text refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly. When the gravitational wave is represented through sound, it does indeed make a chirping sound. The chirp would also cause Beret Guy's body to change form repeatedly and rapidly.
Transcript
- [Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]
- Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.
- [Beret Guy's arms are out.]
- Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?
- Beret Guy: Here comes one now!
- [Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is stretched out in height.]
- [Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now shorter and wider than he was originally.]
- [Ponytail stands facing Beret Guy, who is now stretched out in height again as he was in the third panel.]
- Beret Guy: WHEEE!
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