Talk:1366: Train

I just did an explanation from scratch for the first time, please could you tell me how I could improve it? Thanks :) Cheeselord99 (talk) 07:02, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Am I the only one who gets Inflation when going to xkcd.com (without the www)? This comic shows at www.xkcd.com and m.xkcd.com however. 108.162.221.5 07:11, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

I created an account. The 108.162.221.5 ip address today is me, along with 108.162.221.53 today. Mikemk (talk) 07:16, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

I thought today's comic was late. http://www.xkcd.com/1366/ kept on displaying "Web-page not available" (browser thing, not server-thing), then I checked here. So. Oh, http://www.xkcd.com/ also... Hmmm... That's not right. Oh, "Ping request could not find host www.xkcd.com. Please check the name and try again." DNS errors? Only those trying via cached details get anything? Things are not working for xkcd.com or m.xkcd.com either. So, DNS poisoning or human error of some kind? Not the place to discuss this, I know, sorry... 141.101.89.211 10:05, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Explanation is good, but there are certainly related comics or maybe what-if ... I've found Orbital Speed, but I think there were something mentioning how fast sun goes relatively to galaxy ... -- Hkmaly (talk) 10:14, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Found two related comics - any other? Condor70 (talk) 11:33, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

It sounds like the dark matter engine in Futurama:http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_matter_engine

I think the last paragraph, considering the situation from the point of view of multiple trains, is not relevant. The whole concept of what makes this idea funny and interesting is that you MUST view the situation from the point of view of a single train (or elevator). --RenniePet (talk) 13:24, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Second-last paragraph - my comment was written at the same time as another paragraph was added. --RenniePet (talk) 13:26, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

I do not understand what the last paragraph is suggesting as it seems to violate the 3rd Newtonian law of motion.

The last paragraph is not correct, the Earth would also experience an acceleration (albeit a small one).--Sturmonium (talk) 13:54, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

This line: "The logic of the comic also fails when taking acceleration into account. Whether the train or earth is moving can be determined by which one experiences a force due to acceleration or deacceleration when the train starts." is incorrect, according to the principle of General Relativity. You cannot experimentally distinguish between your own acceleration against a fixed universe, and your position remaining fixed against an accelerating universe. This applies for rotation as well; if you fix the reference frame of the train rider, the acceleration of the universe creates gravity waves that cause any rider on the train to experience what feels like an acceleration. Therefore, the logic of the comic is indeed correct, even for accelerating trains. I will correct this edit.--JB Gnome (talk) 14:12, 9 May 2014 (UTC)