Editing 1677: Contrails

{{comic
| number    = 1677
| date      = May 6, 2016
| title     = Contrails
| image     = contrails.png
| titletext = Astronomy (or "astrology" in British English) is the study of ...
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}

Contrail stands for “condensation trail”, which is the trailing cloud often found after jet planes that fly by. Itʼs formed from water condensing on jet fuel exhaustions, some impurities of which provide bases for ice crystals to cumulate on. Some would dissipate in minutes, but others can last for hours or even longer.

Chemtrail, specifically referring to contrails that last for very long, is a conspiracist term that states such clouds can last so long because there are other chemicals added in jet fuel, thus achieving malicious results. Itʼs not approved by scientific community.

The joke is that British English and American English often call the same object with different terms, and one can often learn new words for a simple thing. This, however is not the case in this comic; contrail and chemtrail do not refer to the same thing, the latter being only a part of the former. And it being xkcd, we can assume that chemtrail is a term that is frowned upon. Thus the comic states it as misinformation.

The title text includes a similar situation: astronomy is serious study about things in outer space, like stars, planets, and galaxies. Astrology, however, is a system that infers one’s personalities and characteristics from zodiacs of her date of birth, which is a constellation assigned to a period of time in a year. The same system can also derive predictions about future, especially that of a relationship. Some would argue that astrology shows statistical values, but itʼs hardly science as by the standard of scientific community.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and a man with a white hat are walking. White hat is looking up to the sky.]
:White hat: Lots of contrails today.
:Cueball: Oh, you must be from the UK. In American English it's "Chemtrail".

:[Caption under the panel]
:My hobby: Spreading linguistic misinformation


{{comic discussion}}
@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 | title     = Contrails
 | image     = contrails.png
-| titletext = Astronomy (or "astrology" in British English) is the study of...
+| titletext = Astronomy (or "astrology" in British English) is the study of ...
 }}
 ==Explanation==
-{{w|Contrail}}s (short for "condensation trails") are trails of vapor produced by aircraft exhaust, trailing the airplane. They are formed from water condensing on jet fuel exhaust particles, some impurities of which provide bases for ice crystals to accumulate on. Some can dissipate in minutes, but others can last for hours or even longer, depending on the temperature, relative humidity and wind conditions at that particular altitude. Long-lasting contrails is a sign of high relative humidity and may sometimes predict the formation of clouds and rain. The {{rw|chemtrail|chemtrail conspiracy theory}} claims that contrails lasting unusually long are actually chemical or biological agents sprayed into the air for more ''nefarious'' purposes, although there is no evidence for the same.
+{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page.}}
-Here, [[White Hat]] notices that there are a lot of contrails in the air. [[Cueball]] (falsely) corrects him, saying that in {{w|American English}}, contrails are called chemtrails, which is incorrect. This might be a reference to the stereotype of Americans being especially likely to buy into conspiracy theories.
+Contrail stands for “condensation trail”, which is the trailing cloud often found after jet planes that fly by. Itʼs formed from water condensing on jet fuel exhaustions, some impurities of which provide bases for ice crystals to cumulate on. Some would dissipate in minutes, but others can last for hours or even longer.
-This is a comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby]] series. Some of these comics involve [[Cueball]] giving misleading information about pedantic terms, such as [[1405: Meteor]]. Another of these comics, [[966: Jet Fuel]], even mentions chemtrails, saying that they are made of mind-control agents carried on board the planes that make them. Later they were again mentioned in [[1803: Location Reviews]].
+Chemtrail, specifically referring to contrails that last for very long, is a conspiracist term that states such clouds can last so long because there are other chemicals added in jet fuel, thus achieving malicious results. Itʼs not approved by scientific community.
-The title text includes a similar situation, implying that {{w|astronomy}} and {{rw|astrology}} are synonymous, with astrology being the term used in British English. However, this is incorrect. Astronomy is the scientific study of things in outer space, like stars, planets, and galaxies, whereas astrology is an asinine system that infers a person's personality and characteristics from those same things in outer space. Though both involve studying celestial objects, astrology is considered a {{rw|pseudoscience}} rather than empirical science.
+The joke is that British English and American English often call the same object with different terms, and one can often learn new words for a simple thing. This, however is not the case in this comic; contrail and chemtrail do not refer to the same thing, the latter being only a part of the former. And it being xkcd, we can assume that chemtrail is a term that is frowned upon. Thus the comic states it as misinformation.
-The joke is that {{w|British English}} and American English use different terms to refer to the same object, and one can often learn new words for a simple thing. This, however is not the case in this comic; contrail and chemtrail do not refer to the same thing, the latter being only a conspiracy theory.
+The title text includes a similar situation: astronomy is serious study about things in outer space, like stars, planets, and galaxies. Astrology, however, is a system that infers one’s personalities and characteristics from zodiacs of her date of birth, which is a constellation assigned to a period of time in a year. The same system can also derive predictions about future, especially that of a relationship. Some would argue that astrology shows statistical values, but itʼs hardly science as by the standard of scientific community.
-This newfound hobby is developing to another hobby about spreading misinformation that was released less than two month after this: [[1697: Intervocalic Fortition]].
 ==Transcript==
-:[Cueball and a White Hat are walking. White Hat is looking up to the sky while Cueball, walking in front holds out one arm towards him.]
+:[Cueball and a man with a white hat are walking. White hat is looking up to the sky.]
-:White Hat: Lots of contrails today.
+:White hat: Lots of contrails today.
 :Cueball: Oh, you must be from the UK. In American English it's "Chemtrail".
-:[Caption below the panel:]
+:[Caption under the panel]
 :My hobby: Spreading linguistic misinformation
 {{comic discussion}}
-[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
-[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
-[[Category:My Hobby]]
-[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
-[[Category:Language]]
-[[Category:Aviation]]