2840: Earth Layers
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by an UNKINDER SURPRISE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Like this? Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
This comic reimagines the internal structure of the earth, mixing the real geological layers of the planet with fictional ones. Some of the fictional layers are appropriated from the layers of other objects that have cross-sectional diagrams, such as the layers of a piece of fruit, an eyeball, an item of confectionary or a building.
Layer | Explanation |
---|---|
Lithosphere/Crust (50/50 Blend) | The lithosphere is any outermost rocky layer of a planet. On Earth it consists of the crust and any parts of the upper mantle (see below) that do not convect. To say they are two distinct layers that could be blended together is rather nonsensical. |
Upper mantle | An actual layer of the earth's structure. |
Deep mantle | A pseudo-correct layer of the earth's structure. There is a layer called the lower mantle, which could be what Randall refers to. |
Filler | This suggests there is space in the earth that was empty, so the creator(s) added some filler to fill up the extra space. |
Vitreous humor | Vitreous humor (vitreous body) is the transparent gel inside the eye, located between the lens and the retina. |
Mechanical/HVAC layer | HVAC is an abbreviation for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning - the system used to heat or cool a building. Tall buildings may have a dedicated "HVAC floor" or "mechanical floor" between regular floors, like an extra layer. |
Guacamole | Guacamole is a dip or sauce made from avocados. Originating in the Mayan Empire[actual citation needed], It often includes onions, tomatoes, and spices. Notably, guacamole is a major component of seven layer dip, and is shown here to be the seventh layer (from the surface). |
Cytoplasm | Cytoplasm is the "flesh" of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells; a jelly-like substance that fills all the otherwise empty space within the cell. |
Cork | Due to the proximity of the cork layer and the insulation layer, this may possibly be referencing cork-lined walls, which are used today mostly for high quality soundproofing, but have a considerable history. Another potential reference could be the fact that baseballs (another spherical shape) have a layer of cork in them (though it is usually in the center). Finally, the cork is a real layer of tissue in many woody plants, part of the bark. |
Insulation | Probably a reference to the building insulation installed in the walls and ceilings of buildings. |
Seeds | Part of a fruit. |
Pith | Part of a tree trunk or the thick spongy layer of the skin of a citrus fruit |
Nougat | Nougat is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts, whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. Notably, it constitutes the second-innermost layer of Mozartkugeln, a spherical confection. |
Outer core | An actual layer of the earth's structure. |
Inner core | An actual layer of the earth's structure. |
Secret core | The "next layer" that is secret and only certain people, like Randall, know about it. |
Kinder toy capsule | A Kinder toy is a reference to two chocolate egg-shaped confections by the Kinder brand, the Kinder Joy and Kinder Surprise. Both contain small toys within it, though the Kinder Surprise was banned in the US because it exceeds the limit of non-food that can be inside a food item (although it is widely believed that it's because it can be a choking hazard, despite the fact that you'd have to be swallowing a chicken egg-sized confectionery in a single mouthful for that to happen; the toys, on the other hand, may contain brightly coloured small pieces that can pose a choking hazard). Randall's punch line of the comic is that there is a hidden toy at the center of the Earth. The title text elaborates on this further, stating that due to an "unexplained mismatch" with other models, some geophysicists argue that the hidden toy is - or at least contains - some form of magnet. |
Transcript
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This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks. |
- The layers of the Earth
- Lithosphere/crust (50/50 blend)
- Upper mantle
- Deep mantle
- Filler
- Vitreous humor
- Mechanical/HVAC layer
- Guacamole
- Cytoplasm
- Cork
- Insulation
- Seeds
- Pith
- Nougat
- Outer core
- Inner core
- Secret core
- Kinder toy capsule
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Discussion
Why are the seeds outside of the pith? Is there a fruit that is organized this way? SDSpivey (talk) 18:01, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
- If there's one that's this way that contains pith, i can't find it, but raspberries, cashew apples, and blackberries all have their seeds on the outside SomeoneIGuess (talk) 20:09, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
- The pith is the innermost part of a tree trunk. The part of a fruit is the pit, which is basically the same thing as a seed.--172.64.236.13 20:19, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
- Ummm...the white, fibrous stuff within fruits that wraps around the seeds (like in oranges, for example) is called "pith", whether trees contain something by that name or not.Yorkshire Pudding (talk) 21:43, 11 October 2023 (UTC)
- Strawberries are an (albeit rare) example of a fruit with the seeds on the outside of the pith (and skin, for that matter) 162.158.159.116 15:52, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
- Actually, the white specks on strawberries that we commonly call seeds are achenes, which are actually individual, smaller fruits. It's the seeds within these achenes that are the actual strawberry seeds. SomeoneIGuess (talk) 20:43, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
- Clear tootsie roll tootsie pop joke miss (awwaiid) 172.70.39.49 01:40, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
Something that seemed to be excessive to edit into the Explanation, but noting here in passing, the additional issue of magnets (in a Kinder context) is the problems of ingesting them. In addition to other issues, they can attract each other/separate bits of metal across folds of the digestive system and cause problems beyond merely their passage through the system (which they might not now be able to do). I don't even know if Kinder has ever included magnets, but I think they'd be extremely limited even outwith the US. (Though, as counter-example, there are Cow Magnets, designed for ingestion but not further digestion. And not for humans, nor the size of either a standard Kinder-yoke or a planetary one.) 172.71.242.69 08:50, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
When I saw guacamole in the comic, I assumed it was a reference to Apache Guacamole, as might be seen in a diagram of the different layers involved accessing some complicated computer system. Sandor (talk) 17:49, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
Some parts of the explanation, particularly the last paragraph, seem to assume that the diagram is supposed to be to scale. I don't think it is, since all the layers except the kinder toy capsule at the center are about the same size. Barmar (talk) 16:32, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
- I've gone in and altered the last paragraph (it looks like the author of that wasn't too concerned about the near-similar thicknesses of the sliced-through strata, but I presume that it was a basic measurement and calculation of the relative radii of innermost and outermost spheres that came to the 900km conclusion). A very quick glance didn't suggest anything about the similar thicknesses in the list (may have missed it, it was a very very quick read-through!), but note that there is obvious variation, belying it being a "just line 'em up regularly" diagram but maybe just happens to be semi-accurately representing a semi-similar set of thicknesses. Because sometimes the things just turn out to be semi-regular like that, maybe? (Ok, so it's in a fiction/imagination, already, but if we're not allowed to be meta in xkcd then where else can one?) 141.101.99.164 20:36, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
> In the context of "inner core, outer core, secret core" may also be a riff on Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, a la 2583: Chorded Keyboard. < ...How does this relate to the inner and outer core? Surely this should just say '"Secret core" may also be a riff on Leonard Cohen's hallelujah.'?172.70.42.59 16:41, 14 October 2023 (UTC)
I believe the "Mechanical/HVAC layer“ refers to the virtual layer in a CAD program or a layer shown in a set of blueprints for a building. Often different utilities are seperated out into separate layers or drawings to avoid confusion of different piping or electrical utilities such as water, gas, sewage, electrical, hvac, etc. See https://blog.draftsperson.net/iso-13567-cad-layer-standard/ for reference. 108.162.245.29 16:49, 1 May 2024 (UTC)
Layer 4 (FILLER) is actually an inside-joke for COBOL programmers. 172.70.110.5 08:18, 5 July 2024 (UTC)