Editing 2865: The Wrong Stuff
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
| number = 2865 | | number = 2865 | ||
| date = December 8, 2023 | | date = December 8, 2023 | ||
− | | title = | + | | title = the Wrong Stuff |
| image = the_wrong_stuff_2x.png | | image = the_wrong_stuff_2x.png | ||
| imagesize = 351x513px | | imagesize = 351x513px | ||
Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | Multiple times in history, there have been incidents where companies, governments, and engineers have proposed or developed plans for large vehicles composed of unconventional materials. One example is | + | {{incomplete|Created by a PHANTOM MATERIALS ENGINEER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | Multiple times in history, there have been incidents where companies, governments, and engineers have proposed or developed plans for large vehicles composed of unconventional materials. One example is Project Habakkuk (mentioned in the comic), an aircraft carrier which was to be composed of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice. The comic imagines that all of these proposals are linked together by a single "Material Phantom," a ghost which haunts engineers and convinces them to design giant vehicles made of the "wrong materials." | ||
The three "wrong material vehicles" mentioned in the comic are: | The three "wrong material vehicles" mentioned in the comic are: | ||
− | *{{w|The Spruce Goose}} - | + | *{{w|The Spruce Goose}} - A {{w|flying boat}} made, in spite of its name, almost entirely out of {{w|birch}} wood. Most modern planes are constructed out of aluminum or some other metal/alloy. |
− | *{{w|Project Habakkuk}} - | + | *{{w|Project Habakkuk}} - An aircraft carrier composed of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice. Modern aircraft carriers are built from steel. |
− | *{{w|Trojan Horse}} - A mythological, giant wooden horse, supposedly used by {{w|Ancient Greece|the Greeks}} to invade the city of {{w|Troy}}. Actual horses are composed, like any other animal, out of meat, bone, and | + | *{{w|Trojan Horse}} - A mythological, giant wooden horse, supposedly used by {{w|Ancient Greece|the Greeks}} to invade the city of {{w|Troy}}. Actual horses are composed, like any other animal, out of meat, bone, and miscellaneous tissues and bodily fluids. |
− | The title text references | + | The title text references {{w|Edward Everett Hale|Edward Everett Hale's}} sci-fi novella ''{{w|The Brick Moon}},'' the first known depiction of an artificial satellite in fiction. The novella is, of course, just a sci-fi story, but the title text states that Hale was actually approached by the Material Phantom, and the novella was a serious proposal for a moon made out of bricks. Apparently, it was only retroactively perceived as science-fiction. |
− | |||
− | |||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | This comic was uploaded | + | This comic was uploaded the "the" in "the Wrong Stuff" being entirely lowercase, breaking the normal title case used for XKCD comic titles. Possibly another word was initially intended to come before "the", in which case lowercasing "the" would be correct. |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
:[A ghost is approaching Cueball in a workshop. They are surrounded by shop equipment, such as a table with a press on it, and a small pile of what appears to be lumber. Cueball is backing away from the ghost, holding his hands up defensively.] | :[A ghost is approaching Cueball in a workshop. They are surrounded by shop equipment, such as a table with a press on it, and a small pile of what appears to be lumber. Cueball is backing away from the ghost, holding his hands up defensively.] | ||
− | :Ghost: oooOOOOOOoooo | + | :Ghost: oooOOOOOOoooo Build a spaceship out of bricks! oooooOOOOOOOOoo |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
:Cueball: No! Go away! | :Cueball: No! Go away! | ||
− | + | :[There is a caption underneath the panel] | |
− | :[ | ||
:The Spruce Goose, the Project Habakkuk Ice Ship, and the Trojan Horse were all work of the Material Phantom, a ghost that wanders the Earth convincing engineers to make giant vehicles out of the wrong stuff. | :The Spruce Goose, the Project Habakkuk Ice Ship, and the Trojan Horse were all work of the Material Phantom, a ghost that wanders the Earth convincing engineers to make giant vehicles out of the wrong stuff. | ||
− | |||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− |