Talk:1851: Magnetohydrodynamics

Hey, how the hell am I seeing this comic here when I can't see it yet on xkcd??!!?! And I'm not even trying to explain this one, I feel my complete unfamiliarity with Magnetohydrodynamics, except for being able to parse the word, will greatly hinder my ability to sufficiently explain it. :) (And that any explanation should and will include explaining what it is). I'm just rather amused at the concept that he's hearing the word often enough to make a "whenever I..." statement about it, like he's hearing it daily or more. Especially since his clear unfamiliarity suggests he isn't in the field or anything. And hey, leave my comment first this time, huh? LOL! NiceGuy1 (talk) 04:49, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

Figured it out. I last loaded the page with the previous comic before midnight EST, then came here to comment a lot on it, but after midnight, after the comic was posted, the link was still dead, I had to Refresh to get the real link. :) NiceGuy1 (talk) 05:11, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

""...I replace it with "magic" "" magic has 5 letters, one more than the average anglospeaker is able to understand.162.158.18.10 13:10, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

Possible interpretation: It could also be that Cueball is simply unable to comprehend such a large word, and so compresses it into it's beginning and ending letters. Therefore, magnetohydrodynamic becomes mag...ic. 172.68.78.82 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Randall is downplaying it. I used to work with magnetohydrodynamics when building systems for studying the solar wind. It's really hard because you've got masses of local and non-local (at sane timescales) interactions and the non-linearities don't cancel out nicely. Doing the same within the sun, especially at the boundary between the radiation zone and the convective zone, would require relativistic quantum magnetohydrodynamics, and that's got like every sort of hard in modern physics. I think I'll stick with simple things like trying to build a true AI. 141.101.98.226 17:10, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

There is a typo in the caption: "magnetohydrodyanmics" :-) 188.114.102.202 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

That's because we have a trivia section.--Dgbrt (talk) 22:10, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

"Magnetohydrodynamics". I mean, the basic concept of magnets influencing water doesn't sound so bad, but the word itself sounds like a mad scientist having a stroke. 162.158.62.135 19:23, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

Hydrodynamics is the study of liquids in motion - not only water. The term hydraulics is an other example not much related to water nowadays. --Dgbrt (talk) 22:10, 16 June 2017 (UTC)