Talk:1561: Water Phase Diagram

What's up with that square under "water vapor"? Is it just a glitch, or is it some hidden message like in https://xkcd.com/1005/? Nick818 (talk)

I think it is a hidden message, it almost looks like a tiny graph. 108.162.242.27 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

It looks like a tiny version of the same graph, but flipped upright so that pressure increases as you go up. (Doing this in the main strip would ruin the "Under Pressure" joke. --Druid816 (talk) 05:19, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I'd say it's the phase diagram Randall used as a template, see Wikipedia --108.162.229.232 05:28, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

The only thing I can think of is "water + vapor + paper" with the letters being {unique, identical, second, first, identical}. No idea if that means anything. It's probably just a pencil drawing that Randall forgot to remove before publishing. 108.162.216.70 06:45, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Seems to be the phase diagram from wikipedia. I put a contrast enhanced zoom here and it corresponds extremely well with the wikipedia version (including darker pixels where the blue is). -- 141.101.105.234 13:36, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I think it might be a reference to the "Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia" of the Pluto comic. --Lokar (talk) 15:26, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Why no mention of the relation to the current whatif? 141.101.91.91 07:01, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Disagree that the title text is definitely in reference to any line in the song, just because it includes the word "collaborate[d]" 108.162.228.17 07:49, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Surely this comic would have been a perfect opportunity to mention Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Ice-nine? Disappointed in you Randall! Cosmogoblin (talk) 09:42, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I agree that Vonnegut's ice-nine is a wonderful topic, but since it exists (fictionally) at room temperature and pressure, it complicates this piece. --Tanana (talk) 22:33, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

I’m not happy with the title-text-explanation. In my eyes the joke is that Randall try to make us believe that Vanilla-icecream is ice IV – and they somehow managed in the 90s to let it exists at high temperatures (for us: normal room temp). --DaB. (talk) 11:31, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I have to disagree for one important reason: (Vanilla) Icecream was produced in high quantities since approx. the 1950's (or even earlier) and not just since the 90's, which is common sense, I think. Imho "Vanilla Ice was produced in small quantities for years" refers more to the fact, that many of Vanilla Ice's tracks consist of different samples of earlier produced songs (such as Under Pressure) or even complete covers (i.e. Play that funky Music). However, Randall might have missed another perfect opportunity for a different joke: Since "Vanilla" is used as expression for "normal" or "trivial" he could have placed it for Ice (I), the "normal" solid water. In that case the Under Pressure reference would have been a bit less obvious, though. Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 12:22, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Purely as a tangent, ice cream was commonly available in the U.S. in the 1700's, and by the 1800's large silver flatware sets often included (along with other odd specialty pieces like asparagus tongs) sets of ice cream forks. Yes, ice cream was originally "properly" eaten with a fork. Miamiclay (talk) 20:40, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I thought for sure the intersection of the three was called "Ice-T" 173.245.48.184 13:40, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I don't see any square, faded or otherwise, by label "water vapor". 108.162.219.231 13:04, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, it's gone now... __rvx 173.245.50.86 00:20, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

I have to very strongly disagree with the opinion expressed by 108.162.216.173 in this edit, namely that 'pressure scale incresing down isn't so jokes are at bottom, it facilitates being "Under" Pressure - the joke doesn't work any other way.' Being at the bottom along the pressure axis doesn't mean that region is "under" pressure. It's "under" Vanilla Ice. The joke works because it is under pressure, a very high amount of pressure, not because it is geometrically below pressure in any sense (it really isn't). My original text, that pressure increases downwards so the jokes are at the bottom, makes far more sense to me (well, naturally). It's the "reveal". If the jokes were at the top, they'd be read before the average reader had even grasped what the comic was about. But anyway, that's just my opinion; does anyone else have any thoughts? -- Peregrine (talk) 15:07, 7 August 2015 (UTC)

I totally agree with you and have reverted to something similar to the original version. Maybe it could be worded better, but at least that makes sense. --Kynde (talk) 20:15, 8 August 2015 (UTC)

As the editor who changed the wording obviously I disagree. If the axis were arranged correctly the linkage to "Under Pressure" would be far less obvious. ("Over" pressure??!?) I get what you're saying that 'under' pressure has nothing to do with geometry, but it does work typographic arrangement. But I have to question why the reveal is naturally the right assumption, as it would still work just as well with the 'reveal' at the top... maybe it's just kismet. But then again, I think the speculation is overthought in the first place - it's also just as natural that Ice Ice Baby is built on top of Under Pressure - and I've already invested too much time in it. Just MVHO. 108.162.216.173 19:32, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

Sorry, got lost, but I wanted to suggest it's missing Miles Davis at the very bottom. "Birth of The Cool", ya know. 108.162.242.27 21:20, 7 August 2015 (UTC)