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__NOTOC__{{DISPLAYTITLE:<big><big><big>'''explain [[xkcd]]''' sandbox!</big></big></big>}}
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Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.
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<center>
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[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Sandbox&action=edit&oldid=91667 clear sandbox]
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<font size=5px>''<big><big><big>Welcome to the '''explain [[xkcd]]''' sandbox!</big></big></big>''</font><br>
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We have an explanation for all [[:Category:All comics|'''{{#expr:{{PAGESINCAT:All comics|R}}-1}}''' xkcd comics]],
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and only {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}}
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({{#expr: {{PAGESINCAT:Incomplete explanations|R}} / {{LATESTCOMIC}} * 100 round 0}}%) [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|are incomplete]]. Help us finish them!
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{{comic
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== <big><big><big>New to the '''explain [[xkcd]]''' sandbox?</big></big></big> ==
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| number    = 0
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<div style="float:right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em">{{Special:ContributionScores/10/7/nosort,notools}}<div style="font-size:0.85em; width:25em; font-style:italic">[[Special:ContributionScores|Lots of people]] contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors, listed above, have [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=newbie just joined]. You can do it too! Create your account [[Special:UserLogin/signup|here]].</div></div>
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| date      = May 4, 2015
 
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| title     = Degree-Off
 
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| image    = degree off.png
 
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| titletext = I'M SORRY, FROM YOUR YEARS OF CONDESCENDING TOWARD THE 'SQUISHY SCIENCES', I ASSUMED YOU'D BE A LITTLE HARDER.
 
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}}
 
  
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==Explanation==
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You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at [[explain xkcd]]. Feel free to [[Special:UserLogin/signup|sign up for an account]] and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|comics]], [[:Category:Characters|characters]], [[:Category:Comics by topic|themes]] and [[:Category:Meta|everything in between]]. If it is referenced in an [[xkcd]] web comic, it should be here.
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{{Incomplete|Unfinished. More detailed introduction and explain title text.}}
 
  
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* If you're new to wiki editing, see the [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ]] for a specific guidance to this Wiki and the more general help on [[mw:Help:Editing pages|how to edit wiki pages]]. There's also a handy {{w|Help:Cheatsheet|wikicode cheatsheet}}.
  
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* Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the [[explain xkcd:Community portal|Community portal]].
  
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[[Cueball]], [[Hair Bun Girl]], and [[Megan]] appear to be on a talk show called Degree-Off, hosted by [[Hairy]], where representatives of different fields, in this case, physics, biology, and chemistry, explain why their fields are best and why to get a degree in the field. The title "Degree-Off" is a portmanteau of "{{w|Academic degree|degree}}", as in the recognized completion of studies at a school or university,  and "{{w|face-off}}", a direct confrontation between two people or groups.
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* You can browse the comics from [[List of all comics]] or by navigating the category tree at [[:Category:Comics]].
  
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The host asks Cueball to go first. He lightheartedly tells a story about {{w|Richard Feynman}}, finishing with a quote. The quote "all science is either physics or stamp collecting." was said by {{w|Ernest Rutherford}}, not Richard Feynman, implying either [[Cueball]] misattributes the quote, or that his story is quite long. During the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, Richard Feymann got bored because of the isolation and started learning lock picking on the secret documents safes. Using these new skills, he played lots of pranks on his colleagues, like leaving notes and spooking them into believing there was a spy among them (which, of course, {{w|Klaus_Fuchs|there was}}). The reference to stamp collecting is the abstract idea that all other sciences are aggregates of physics and what they study are simply interesting instances of complex behavior derived from basic physics.
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* There are incomplete explanations listed [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|here]]. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
  
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Hair Bun Girl, the representative for biology goes next, showing that through their efforts, biology has helped reduce disease ("slaying" {{w|Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse#As_infectious_disease|Pestilence}}). She accuses physics of creating a new weapon of destruction from gathering in the desert (likely referring to the {{w| Manhattan Project}}, conducted in the {{w|New Mexico desert}}), insisting that biologists are the true heroes. Physics is taken aback, having believed it would be a fun activity, which Biology refutes, saying he must have been thinking of Stamp Collecting, which was mentioned in the earlier quote. Megan, the representative for chemistry, does not speak during the comic.
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== <big><big><big>Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! </big></big></big> ==
  
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<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
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If you need assistance from an [[explain xkcd:Administrators|admin]], post a message to the [[explain xkcd:Community portal/Admin requests|Admin requests]] board.
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This graph shows the death rate from infectious disease in USA, similar to that shown in the comic presented by Hair Bun Girl, as both have the range of 1900-2000. It probably served as inspiration to Randall.
 
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<div class="mw-collapsible-content">[[File:Crude_Infectious_Disease_Mortality_Rate_in_the_United_States_from_1900_Through_1996.gif]]</div>
 
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Continuing on the Four Horsemen theme, the title text in {{w|all caps}} refers to the mode of speech of {{w|Terry Pratchett}}'s character {{w|Death_(Discworld)|Death}}. He mocks physics and physicists for not being harder. Referring to the fact that physicists sometimes see their science as being the most {{w|hard science}} of sciences and demean other sciences for being soft sciences (as in [[435: Purity]]) or "squishy". By calling the physicist squishy, Death might be referring to the fragility of the human body which led to his death, or the state of that body once death has had time to set in. According to [[435: Purity]], the only subject harder or purer than physics is mathematics.
 
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The whole comic might be a subtle hint by Randall on his stance against the [http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement anti-vaccination movement], the physicist Cueball being the anti-vaxxer, the biologist Hair Bun Girl showing the success of vaccinations, making Cueball speechless.
 
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==Transcript==
 
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:[Hairy is acting as the host of a TV talk show, ''Degree-Off''. Cueball, Hair Bun Girl, and Megan are acting as representatives of Phys (Physics), Bio (Biology), and Chem (Chemistry) respectively. They each stand behind their own {{w|Lectern}} with the respective subject label.]
 
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:Hairy: Welcome to the ''Degree-Off'', where we determine which field is the best! Physics, wanna go first?
 
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:Cueball: Sure! I'd like to tell the story of Richard Feynman's Manhattan project lockpicking pranks...
 
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:Cueball: ...and as he said, "all science is either physics or stamp collecting."
 
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:Cueball: Thank you.
 
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:Hairy: ''Great!'' Bio, you wanna go next?
 
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:Hair Bun Girl: Okay.
 
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:[A graph labeled "Per 100,000 is shown above Hair Bun Girl]
 
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:Hair Bun Girl: This is a graph of the death rate from infectious disease in this country.
 
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:[Hair Bun Girl raising her left hand]
 
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:Hair Bun Girl: The heroes of my field have ''slain'' one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
 
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:[Hair Bun Girl pointing at Cueball]
 
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:Hair Bun Girl: While the heroes of ''your'' field gathered in the desert to create a new one.
 
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:Cueball: ...Jeez, what the hell? I thought this was supposed to be fun and lighthearted!
 
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:Hair Bun Girl: ''You must have been thinking of stamp collecting.''
 
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==See also==
 
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*Different scientific fields, including physics, biology, and chemistry are compared in terms of purity in  [[435: Purity]].
 
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*Most fields are criticized in [[1052: Every Major's Terrible]].
 
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
 
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[[Category:Comics featuring Hair Bun Girl]]
 
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[[Category:Science]]
 
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Latest revision as of 14:13, 13 October 2023

Welcome to the explain xkcd sandbox!
We have an explanation for all 2929 xkcd comics, and only 4 (0%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!

New to the explain xkcd sandbox?[edit]

Last 7 days (Top 10)
RankScorePagesChangesUsername
1 45 40 46 Psychoticpotato
2 35 30 36 TheusafBOT
3 25 12 54 Unknown so shut up
4 25 15 38 Asdf
5 19 15 19 Apollo11
6 13 4 23 Elektrizikekswerk
7 10 3 14 Paintadot
8 7 7 7 B for brain
9 7 1 9 Mtcv
10 5 3 4 Charlie Spring
Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors, listed above, have just joined. You can do it too! Create your account here.

You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to sign up for an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for comics, characters, themes and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd web comic, it should be here.

  • There are incomplete explanations listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!

Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! [edit]

If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.


comment.png add a comment! ⋅ comment.png add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif refresh comments!

Discussion

Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.

This is a test. PoolloverNathan[stalk the blue seas] 20:48, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

This is not. —While False (museum | talk | contributions | logs | rights | printable version | page information | what links there | related changes | Google search | current time: 02:37) 18:38, 17 November 2022 (UTC)
A foreign student asked me to help fight against his math teacher. That was unusual. He was in that class for just a couple of weeks. The teacher's phone number was sent to me. The student asked me to spam-call the teacher. 172.71.155.55 22:58, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

here i'm just messing around in html, ignore this

furhhfghure guyrburgryhuyvfr "rvhru"

interesting way of writing quotations xd

hmmm this one of putting "<p>" in a line break will come in handy for when i want it to start at the same place than the first line
edit: da hek did that "</div>" come from An user who has no account yet (talk) 14:14, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
hi uh its hard to get here. is this a reference to undocumented feature??? hmm... this is interesting.
108.162.241.216 02:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC) </div>

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