Editing 1331: Frequency

{{comic
| number    = 1331
| date      = February 17, 2014
| title     = Frequency
| custom    = <center><table><tr>
<td>[[File:heartbeat.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:birth.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:death.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:wikipedia.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:vibrator.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:car china.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:car japan.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:car germany.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:car us.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:car elsewhere.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:kiss.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:fire dept.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:holeinone.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:turnsignal1.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:turnsignal2.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:earthquake1.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:earthquake2.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:earthquake3.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:earthquake4.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:parliament toilet.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:flight.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:book mockingbird.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:cat mockingbird.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:phoenixshoes.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:phoenix.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:keys.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:amelia.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:dogbite.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:bike.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:eagle.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:bottles.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:recycled.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:meteor.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:oldfaithful.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:shark.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:us cancer.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:us cancer death.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:dog.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:cat.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:wedding.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:domain.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:house.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:tattoo.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:pulsar.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:facebook.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr><tr>
<td>[[File:iphone.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:littleleague.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:ndsex.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:bieber.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
<td>[[File:denverpizza.gif|This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.]]</td>
</tr></table></center>
| titletext = This comic shows estimated average frequency. I wanted to include the pitch drop experiment, but it turns out the gif format has some issues with decade-long loops.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic shows a number of common events, arranged in a grid. Each of the events flashes with its average frequency. 

For example, statistically a child is born somewhere on the world approximately every 0.24 seconds, or four times per second. Therefore, the tile "One birth" blinks about 4 times per second.

The title text refers to the {{w|Pitch drop experiment}} which measures the flow of a piece of pitch over many years. At room temperature, tar pitch flows at a very slow rate, taking several years to form a single drop. The title text jokes that Randall tried to include a tile that flashes about once every {{w|decade|ten years}}, but the tiles are all {{w|Animated GIF|animated GIFs}} and while the file format supports animations of any length, the resulting file would be too big (at least 10 megabytes).

A thorough analysis of the frequencies present in this comic and how they relate to the underlying technology (the GIF format) was published as [http://notebooks.jsvine.com/reverse-engineering-xkcd-frequency/ Reverse Engineering xkcd's 'Frequency'].

The table below lists all the events and their duration / frequency. Some events make reference to other comics.

===Events===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!class="unsortable"|Picture
!class="unsortable"|Text
!Period (seconds)
!Frequency (per minute)
!Frequency (per year,<br>N/I = not interesting)
!class="unsortable"|Explanation and/or references to other comics.
|-
|[[File:heartbeat.gif]]
|Heartbeat||style="text-align:right;"|0.86||style="text-align:right;"|70||style="text-align:right;"|33,000,000||The typical resting {{w|heart rate}} in adults is 60–80 beats per minute (bpm).
|-
|[[File:birth.gif]]
|One birth||style="text-align:right;"|0.24||style="text-align:right;"|250||style="text-align:right;"|131,490,000||The {{w|Birth rate|birth rate}} that occurs on earth.
|-
|[[File:death.gif]]
|One death||style="text-align:right;"|0.56||style="text-align:right;"|107||style="text-align:right;"|56,360,000||The {{w|Mortality rate|Mortality rate}} is much lower than the birth rate shown above, thus the world population still increases.
|-
|[[File:wikipedia.gif]]
|Someone edits Wikipedia||style="text-align:right;"|0.67||style="text-align:right;"|90||style="text-align:right;"|47,100,000||{{w|Wikipedia}} is an online, freely editable encyclopedia. A table recording the time between completion of each block of 10 million edits can be found [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Katalaveno/TBE here], which suggests that the value 0.67 Sec/Edit is a little high, with the average being closer to 0.63 Sec/Edit.
|-
|[[File:vibrator.gif]]
|Someone buys a vibrator||style="text-align:right;"|2.99||style="text-align:right;"|20||style="text-align:right;"|10,550,000 || This is just a joke, there are no reliable statistics on world wide vibrator productions or sales.
|-
|[[File:car china.gif]]
|China builds a car||style="text-align:right;"|1.89||style="text-align:right;"|32||style="text-align:right;"|16,700,000|| According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, China is the worlds most prolific car manufacturer, producing just over [http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2013-statistics/ 18 million cars in 2013]. 
|-
|[[File:car japan.gif]]
|Japan builds a car||style="text-align:right;"|4.01||style="text-align:right;"|15||style="text-align:right;"|7,870,000|| According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Japan is the second most prolific car manufacturing country, producing just over [http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2013-statistics/ 8 million cars in 2013]. 
|-
|[[File:car germany.gif]]
|Germany builds a car||style="text-align:right;"|5.8||style="text-align:right;"|10||style="text-align:right;"|5,440,000|| According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Germany is the third most prolific car manufacturing country, producing nearly [http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2013-statistics/ 5.5 million cars in 2013]. 
|-
|[[File:car us.gif]]
|The US builds a car||style="text-align:right;"|6.95||style="text-align:right;"|8.6||style="text-align:right;"|4,540,000|| According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, the US is the fourth most prolific car manufacturing country, producing just under [http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2013-statistics/ 4.4 million cars in 2013]. 
|-
|[[File:car elsewhere.gif]]
|Someone else builds a car||style="text-align:right;"|1.03||style="text-align:right;"|58||style="text-align:right;"|30,640,000|| This relates to car manufacture in countries other than those four listed above. According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, this total is just under [http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2013-statistics/ 29.4 million cars in 2013]. 
|-
|[[File:kiss.gif]]
|A European Union resident has their first kiss||style="text-align:right;"|5.53||style="text-align:right;"|11||style="text-align:right;"|5,700,000|| Given that each person can only have their first kiss once, this statistic is tied to the EU birth rate. This [http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/File:Number_of_live_births,_EU-28,_1961%E2%80%932012_(1)_(million)_YB14.png eurostat graph] shows the birth rate in the EU, and if we assume that the majority of people experience their first 'real' kiss at around age 12-16, then the years 1998-2002 are of interest, where the birth rate is fairly stable at just over 5.5 million.
|-
|[[File:fire dept.gif]]
|A US fire department puts out a fire||style="text-align:right;"|23||style="text-align:right;"|2.6||style="text-align:right;"|1,370,000|| The latest available statistics from the US Fire Administration show that in 2011 there were [http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/ roughly 1.39 million] reported fires.
|-
|[[File:holeinone.gif]]
|Someone hits a hole-in-one||style="text-align:right;"|180||style="text-align:right;"|⅓<br>(20 per hour)||style="text-align:right;"|175,320||A {{w|hole in one}} is a feat in {{w|golf}} in which the player hits the ball directly from the tee into the cup with one shot.  This does not account for possibility of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/85/ Rocket Golf].
|-
|[[File:turnsignal1.gif]]
|My turn signal blinks||style="text-align:right;"|0.94||style="text-align:right;"|64||style="text-align:right;"|N/I||This, together with "The turn signal of the car in front of me blinks", forms a reference to [[165: Turn Signals]].
|-
|[[File:turnsignal2.gif]]
|The turn signal of the car in front of me blinks||style="text-align:right;"|0.9||style="text-align:right;"|67||style="text-align:right;"|N/I||This, together with "My turn signal blinks", forms a reference to [[165: Turn Signals]].
|-
|[[File:earthquake1.gif]]
|Earthquake (magnitude 1)||style="text-align:right;"|2.43||style="text-align:right;"|25||style="text-align:right;"|13,000,000||These are continually happening, and not felt by humans. The [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/#%7B%22feed%22%3A%221419026358584%22%2C%22sort%22%3A%22newest%22%2C%22mapposition%22%3A%5B%5B-85%2C0%5D%2C%5B85%2C360%5D%5D%2C%22viewModes%22%3A%7B%22help%22%3Afalse%2C%22list%22%3Atrue%2C%22map%22%3Atrue%2C%22settings%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22autoUpdate%22%3Afalse%2C%22search%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%221419026358584%22%2C%22name%22%3A%22Search%20Results%22%2C%22isSearch%22%3Atrue%2C%22params%22%3A%7B%22starttime%22%3A%222014-12-12%2000%3A00%3A00%22%2C%22minmagnitude%22%3A-1%2C%22eventtype%22%3A%22earthquake%22%2C%22endtime%22%3A%222014-12-19%2023%3A59%3A59%22%2C%22maxmagnitude%22%3A1.9%2C%22orderby%22%3A%22time%22%7D%7D%7D USGS does report them], but the link provided was produced at the time this description was written. It can however be updated by the user.
|-
|[[File:earthquake2.gif]]
|Earthquake (magnitude 2)||style="text-align:right;"|24.26||style="text-align:right;"|2.5||style="text-align:right;"|1,300,000|| The US Geological Survey estimates that [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php 1.3 million] earthquakes of magnitude 2.0-2.9 occur worldwide each year.
|-
|[[File:earthquake3.gif]]
|Earthquake (magnitude 3)||style="text-align:right;"|242.6||style="text-align:right;"|¼<br>(15 per hour)||style="text-align:right;"|130,000|| The US Geological Survey estimates that [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php 130 thousand] earthquakes of magnitude 3.0-3.9 occur worldwide each year.
Earthquakes below this magnitude pass by largely unnoticed by most people (or [[723|tweeters]]).
|-
|[[File:earthquake4.gif]]
|Earthquake (magnitude 4)||style="text-align:right;"|2426||style="text-align:right;"|0.025<br>(1.5 per hour)||style="text-align:right;"|13,000|| The US Geological Survey estimates that [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php 13 thousand] earthquakes of magnitude 4.0-4.9 occur worldwide each year.
|-
|[[File:parliament toilet.gif]]
|A member of the UK parliament flushes a toilet||style="text-align:right;"|10.06||style="text-align:right;"|6||style="text-align:right;"|3,140,000||At the time of this comic, there were 650 MPs in the UK parliament, resulting in an average of 13.2 flushes per MP per day. Supposing that MPs get up to go to the toilet once between midnight and 6am, that means that during the rest of the day they are averaging a trip to the toilet every hour and a half. This adds weight to the view that politicians are either taking the piss or full of shit.
|-
|[[File:flight.gif]]
|An airline flight takes off||style="text-align:right;"|0.93||style="text-align:right;"|65||style="text-align:right;"|34,000,000|| Research conducted in 2008 by Thomas Ruosch and Dr Karl Rege at [http://www.init.zhaw.ch/index.php?id=9&L=1 Zurich University of Applied Science] plotted the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR00_uLfGVE 93,000 daily worldwide airline flights].
|-
|[[File:book mockingbird.gif]]
|Someone buys ''To Kill a Mockingbird''||style="text-align:right;"|42.05||style="text-align:right;"|1.4||style="text-align:right;"|750,000||"{{w|To Kill a Mockingbird}}" is a novel by {{w|Harper Lee}}, often an assigned reading in high school. Since 1960 it has sold in the region of [http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/09/harper-lee-to-kill-a-mockingbird 40 million copies], an average of 740,000 a year.
|-
|[[File:cat mockingbird.gif]]
|Someone's pet cat kills a mockingbird||style="text-align:right;"|1.82||style="text-align:right;"|33||style="text-align:right;"|17,340,000||Whereas the previous item references the well-known book "To Kill a Mockingbird", this one talks about {{w|Mockingbird|mockingbirds}} being literally killed (in this case, by cats). There are 45 million mockingbirds in the world;[http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Mimus_polyglottos/] this means that according to Randall, cats kill 39% of mockingbirds in one year, i.e. in 2.5 years they are able to kill all mockingbirds (excluding the ones that are born in the meantime).
|-
|[[File:phoenixshoes.gif]]
|Someone in Phoenix buys new shoes||style="text-align:right;"|1.08||style="text-align:right;"|56||style="text-align:right;"|29,200,000||Since {{w|Phoenix metropolitan area|metro Phoenix}} has 4,200,000 inhabitants, according to Randall people in Phoenix buy 7 pairs of shoes per capita per year.
|-
|[[File:phoenix.gif]]
|Someone in Phoenix puts on a condom||style="text-align:right;"|2.05||style="text-align:right;"|29||style="text-align:right;"|15,390,000||An unverifiable joke that would take into account the sexually active population of Phoenix, cross-tabulated with those who use protection, and finally those who are ready to engage in Intercourse at any given time. It's one thing to attempt to calculate copulation rates, but the condom makes it a joke and fluke variable.  
|-
|[[File:keys.gif]]
|Someone locks their keys in their car||style="text-align:right;"|2.43||style="text-align:right;"|25||style="text-align:right;"|13,000,000||There does not appear to be any data on this mishap, but a [https://twitter.com/search?q=locked%20keys%20in%20car&src=typd Twitter search] reveals this happens, or people discuss it happening at a high frequency.
|-
|[[File:amelia.gif]]
|A Sagittarius named Amelia drinks a soda||style="text-align:right;"|7.79||style="text-align:right;"|7.7||style="text-align:right;"|4,000,000||Randall Munroe is a [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/01/31/the-baby-name-wizard/ fan of The Baby Name Wizard] blog and its [http://www.babynamewizard.com Name Voyager] tool which shows that "[http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/amelia Amelia]" has recently exploded in popularity.<br />
This particular frequency is taken from:
* The number of persons called {{w|Amelia (given name)|Amelia}} ([http://howmanyofme.com/  est. 82,572 people in the U.S.])
* The number of persons born between November 22 and December 22 under the astrological sign of {{w|Sagittarius (astrology)|Sagittarius}} (~1/12th of the population, i.e. approximately 6881 Amelias in the U.S.)
* The frequency of soda (soft drinks) being drunk (216 liters per person per year in the U.S.[http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_sof_dri_con-food-soft-drink-consumption]). 
According to our figures, 6881 Amelias drink 1.44 million liters of soft drinks per year in the United States alone, which means that Randall's figures only account for American Amelias (drinking 356&nbsp;cc or 12&nbsp;fl.&nbsp;oz. of soda in each drink).
|-
|[[File:dogbite.gif]]
|A dog bites someone in the US||style="text-align:right;"|7.01||style="text-align:right;"|8.6||style="text-align:right;"|4,500,000|| A [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18836045 2008 report] by the Centers for Disease Control concluded that 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year.
|-
|[[File:bike.gif]]
|Someone steals a bicycle||style="text-align:right;"|24.93||style="text-align:right;"|2.4||style="text-align:right;"|1,265,000||About half of all cyclists have their bikes stolen, oftentimes more than once, but riders have a 90% chance of theft, all according to [http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/04/these-8-depressing-bike-theft-statistics-show-just-how-bad-problem/8890/ this report].
|-
|[[File:eagle.gif]]
|A bald eagle catches a fish||style="text-align:right;"|2.69||style="text-align:right;"|22||style="text-align:right;"|11,700,000||It is estimated that there are 70,000 bald eagles in the world and they eat up to [http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=949 a pound-and-a-half of fish] every day. 
|-
|[[File:bottles.gif]]
|50,000 plastic bottles are produced||style="text-align:right;"|1.27||style="text-align:right;"|47||style="text-align:right;"|24,848,504||This fact speaks for itself, but here are some [http://www.banthebottle.net/bottled-water-facts/ alarming facts] about plastic bottle production and usage. 
|-
|[[File:recycled.gif]]
|50,000 plastic bottles are recycled||style="text-align:right;"|4.64||style="text-align:right;"|13||style="text-align:right;"|6,801,207||27% of the plastic bottles manufactured get [[885: Recycling|recycled]]
|-
|[[File:meteor.gif]]
|A bright meteor is visible somewhere||style="text-align:right;"|1.15||style="text-align:right;"|52||style="text-align:right;"|27,400,000||This varies based on location, time of day, time of year, weather, personal perception and a number of other factors, but according to [http://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-faq/#4 The American Meteor Society], between 2-16 can be seen during the hours before daylight where it would be too bright to see them. 
|-
|[[File:oldfaithful.gif]]
|Old Faithful erupts||style="text-align:right;"|5640<br>(94 minutes)||style="text-align:right;"|0.011<br>(15&nbsp;per&nbsp;day)||style="text-align:right;"|5,595||{{w|Old Faithful}} is a geyser in {{w|Yellowstone National Park}} in the US, that tends to erupt every 65 or 91 minutes. XKCD's period of 1h 34m falls between the [http://geysertimes.org/getGeyserInfo.php?geyserID=2 mean and median of recent Old Faithful eruptions] and corresponds to a [http://geysertimes.org/getSingleEruption.php?id=645135 February 16, 2014 eruption].
|-
|[[File:shark.gif]]
|A fishing boat catches a shark||style="text-align:right;"|0.83||style="text-align:right;"|72||style="text-align:right;"|38,000,000|| [[1326: Sharks]]; Shark populations have experienced severe declines due to fishing impacts both of {{w|shark finning|finning}} and by-catch.[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=shark+population+decline+fishing]
|-
|[[File:us cancer.gif]]
|Someone in the US is diagnosed with cancer||style="text-align:right;"|18.99||style="text-align:right;"|3.2||style="text-align:right;"|1,660,000|| According to the [http://www.cancer.org American Cancer Society], there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed ins the US in 2014.
|-
|[[File:us cancer death.gif]]
|Someone in the US dies from cancer||style="text-align:right;"|54.34||style="text-align:right;"|1.1||style="text-align:right;"|580,000|| According to the [http://www.cancer.org American Cancer Society], in 2014 there will be an estimated 585,720 cancer deaths in the US.
|-
|[[File:dog.gif]]
|Someone adopts a dog from a shelter||style="text-align:right;"|15.6||style="text-align:right;"|3.8||style="text-align:right;"|2,000,000||[http://www.statisticbrain.com/pet-owner-industry-stats/ 10%] of owned dogs were adopted from shelters
|-
|[[File:cat.gif]]
|Someone adopts a cat from a shelter||style="text-align:right;"|21.3||style="text-align:right;"|2.8||style="text-align:right;"|1,500,000||[http://www.statisticbrain.com/pet-owner-industry-stats/ 18%] of owned cats were adopted from shelters 
|-
|[[File:wedding.gif]]
|Someone gets married||style="text-align:right;"|0.75||style="text-align:right;"|80||style="text-align:right;"|42,000,000||According to [http://www.statisticbrain.com/marriage-statistics/ this study], there are 2,077,000 marriages in the US every year. 
|-
|[[File:domain.gif]]
|Someone registers a domain||style="text-align:right;"|0.64||style="text-align:right;"|94||style="text-align:right;"|49,300,000 ||According to [http://www.dailychanges.com/ Dailychanges.com], about 135,000 domains are registered every day, but this figure fluctuates. 
|-
|[[File:house.gif]]
|Someone in the US buys a house||style="text-align:right;"|6.22||style="text-align:right;"|9.6||style="text-align:right;"|5,000,000||According to [http://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales.pdf The Census Bureau], on average there are 400,000 home purchases in the US each month.
|-
|[[File:tattoo.gif]]
|Someone in the US gets a tattoo||style="text-align:right;"|2.06||style="text-align:right;"|29||style="text-align:right;"|15,300,000||This estimate is probably based on the percentage of people who are tattooed, and not how frequently they purchase one, but the figures [http://theweek.com/article/index/233633/the-tattoo-economy-by-the-numbers here], [http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_facts.htm here], and [http://www.statisticbrain.com/tattoo-statistics/ here] add to the credibility of the claim.
|-
|[[File:pulsar.gif]]
|The star PSR J1748-2446AD rotates 1,000 times||style="text-align:right;"|1.4||style="text-align:right;"|42.9||style="text-align:right;"|N/I||{{w|PSR J1748-2446ad}} is the fastest spinning {{w|pulsar}} known.
|-
|[[File:facebook.gif]]
|Someone lies about their age to sign up for Facebook||style="text-align:right;"|4.32||style="text-align:right;"|14||style="text-align:right;"|7,300,000||To sign up for Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/help/210644045634222 the user must claim to be at least 13 years old]. This is a reflection of the U.S. {{w|Children's Online Privacy Protection Act}}.
|-
|[[File:iphone.gif]]
|Someone breaks an iPhone screen||style="text-align:right;"|0.93||style="text-align:right;"|65||style="text-align:right;"|34,000,000||According to a [http://www.cnet.com/news/quarter-of-iphones-have-a-broken-screen-says-new-poll/ CNET report], up to a quarter of iPhones have a broken screen. 
|-
|[[File:littleleague.gif]]
|A Little League player strikes out||style="text-align:right;"|1.23||style="text-align:right;"|49||style="text-align:right;"|N/I||{{w|Little League Baseball|Little League}} is a system of local youth baseball and softball competitions. A {{w|strikeout}} is a situation in baseball and softball.
|-
|[[File:ndsex.gif]]
|Someone has sex in North Dakota||style="text-align:right;"|1.38||style="text-align:right;"|43||style="text-align:right;"|22,900,000||Since {{w|North Dakota}} has 723,000 inhabitants (ranked the 48th state), and if we estimate the sexually active population as 80% (and if ''someone'' means ''a couple)'' this means that people in North Dakota have sex 79.1 times a year. It is estimated that 3.93% of the world population has sex on a given day;[http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/geographyofsex.htm] Randall's rate for North Dakota is 17.3% which is not low.
|-
|[[File:bieber.gif]]
|Justin Bieber gains a follower on Twitter||style="text-align:right;"|4.73||style="text-align:right;"|13||style="text-align:right;"|6,670,000|| [[802: Online Communities 2#Twitter Region|802: Online Communities 2]]; {{w|Justin Bieber}} is a Canadian pop music singer whose [https://twitter.com/justinbieber Twitter account] is extremely popular.
|-
|[[File:denverpizza.gif]]
|Someone in Denver orders pizza||style="text-align:right;"|1.27||style="text-align:right;"|47||style="text-align:right;"|24,800,000|| In 2013, an estimated [http://www.statisticbrain.com/pizza-statistics/ 3 billion] pizzas were sold in the US. With a population of approximately 320 million, this is an average of just over 9 pizzas per person per year. According to the [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08/08031.html 2010 Census], the population of Denver was, rounded, 650,000. The frequency shown equates to over 38 pizzas per person per year, four times the national average. 
|}

==Transcript==
:[Repetitive events are written in grey and arranged in a grid. Each statement pulses to black and then returns to grey at an interval characteristic of the named event.]

{| style="text-align:center;"
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|Heartbeat<br/>(0.86 sec)
|One birth<br/>(0.24 sec)
|One death<br/>(0.56 sec)
|Someone edits Wikipedia<br/>(0.67 sec)
|Someone buys a vibrator<br/>(2.99 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|China builds a car<br/>(1.89 sec)
|Japan builds a car<br/>(4.01 sec)
|Germany builds a car<br/>(5.8 sec)
|The US builds a car<br/>(6.95 sec)
|Someone else builds a car<br/>(1.03 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|A European Union resident has their first kiss<br/>(5.53 sec)
|A US fire department puts out a fire<br/>(23 sec)
|Someone hits a hole-in-one<br/>(180 sec)
|My turn signal blinks<br/>(0.94 sec)
|The turn signal of the car in front of me blinks<br/>(0.9 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Earthquake (magnitude 1)<br/>(2.43 sec)
|Earthquake (magnitude 2)<br/>(24.26 sec)
|Earthquake (magnitude 3)<br/>(242.6 sec)
|Earthquake (magnitude 4)<br/>(2426 sec, 42 min)
|Member of the UK Parliament flushes a toilet<br/>(10.06 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|An airline flight takes off<br/>(0.93 sec)
|Someone buys ''To Kill a Mockingbird''<br/>(42.05 sec)
|Someone's pet cat kills a mockingbird<br/>(1.82 sec)
|Someone in Phoenix buys new shoes<br/>(1.08 sec)
|Someone in Phoenix puts on a condom<br/>(2.05 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Someone locks their keys in their car<br/>(2.43 sec)
|A Sagittarius named Amelia drinks a soda<br/>(7.79 sec)
|A dog bites someone in the US<br/>(7.01 sec)
|Someone steals a bicycle<br/>(24.93 sec)
|A bald eagle catches a fish<br/>(2.69 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|50,000 plastic bottles are produced<br/>(1.27 sec)
|50,000 plastic bottles are recycled<br/>(4.64 sec)
|A bright meteor is visible somewhere<br/>(1.15 sec)
|Old Faithful erupts<br/>(5640 sec, 94 min)
|A fishing boat catches a shark<br/>(0.83 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Someone in the US is diagnosed with cancer<br/>(18.99 sec)
|Someone in the US dies from cancer<br/>(54.34 sec)
|Someone adopts a dog from a shelter<br/>(15.6 sec)
|Someone adopts a cat from a shelter<br/>(21.3 sec)
|Someone gets married<br/>(0.75 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top; background-color:#eeeeee;"
|Someone registers a domain<br/>(0.64 sec)
|Someone in the US buys a house<br/>(6.22 sec)
|Someone in the US gets a tattoo<br/>(2.06 sec)
|The star ''PSR J1748-2446ad'' rotates 1,000 times<br/>(1.4 sec)
|Someone lies about their age to sign up for Facebook<br/>(4.32 sec)
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|Someone breaks an iPhone screen<br/>(0.93 sec)
|A little league player strikes out<br/>(1.23 sec)
|Someone has sex in North Dakota<br/>(1.38 sec)
|Justin Bieber gains a follower on Twitter<br/>(4.73 sec)
|Someone in Denver orders a pizza<br/>(1.27 sec)
|}

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with animation]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Sharks]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Cancer]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Baseball]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]