# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 101
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2003 "2023-02-07T00:24:23Z")
The original quark flavors were mint, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, raspberry, and butter pecan, as described by the famed gelatiere Murray Gell-Mann. But his cross-town rival George Zweig insisted on substituting pistachio for butter pecan. The disagreement led to a long dispute until finally the Gilda Internazionale del Gelato was forced to abandon traditional flavors in favor of the non-descriptive terms ugly, delight, charm, strange, truth, and beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2004 "2023-02-07T04:12:35Z")
Rejected terms included ‘hunky’, supercool, ‘better than your boyfriend’ and ‘I need at least two more drinks’. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2005 "2023-02-07T19:24:12Z")
I never really noticed before, but I do tend to think of colors when talking about at least some subatomic particles. Electrons are a bright green to me, and protons are red. Neutrons tend to be either white or gray. Muons are the same color as electrons, only as bigger spheres. The only other similar thing I can think of is how I think of quarks, but it’s about shape, not color. They have that weird shape that stars appear to have in our atmosphere, or like a cartoon spark, just in 3D. And when three make up something, they’re arranged in an equilateral triangle. As for where the colors come from: I suspect they’re from old books, but reinforced because I associate that bright green with electricity (or radiation) and because I think of the red wires that represent the positive side on a battery. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2006 "2023-02-08T18:21:26Z")
> **[Coordinate Plane Closure](https://xkcd.com/2735/)** > > 3D graphs that don't contact the plane in the closure area may proceed as scheduled, but be alert for possible collisions with 2D graph lines that reach the hole and unexpectedly enter 3D space. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2007 "2023-02-08T23:33:06Z")
Eh, just assume continuity and you’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2008 "2023-02-08T23:36:22Z")
I’m disappointed that they had to include extra verbiage because their coordinate system didn’t include a time axis. There’s no need to specify “Thursday” if it’s shown that the hole only has a time-dimension extent up to Friday. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2023, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2009 "2023-02-11T05:09:35Z")
> **[Only Serifs](https://xkcd.com/2736/)** > > If you ever want to get beaten up by a bunch of graphic designers, try removing the serifs from Times New Roman and adding them to Comic Sans. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2010 "2023-02-15T01:59:48Z")
> **[Weather Station](https://xkcd.com/2737/)** > > 'Pour one out for precipitation data integrity,' I say, solemnly upending the glass into the rain gauge. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2011 "2023-02-15T02:01:57Z")
There’s no way you could manually spin it fast enough to simulate even a mild wind. He should have given Cueball a leafblower. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2012 "2023-02-15T02:01:58Z")
Forecasters all over are now hyperventilating in anxiety and considering whether their observation systems need armed guards or barbed wire or automatic turrets or something. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2013 "2023-02-15T03:54:29Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Forecasters all over are now hyperventilating in anxiety “Wow! Looks like we had an F5 tornado just an hour ago!” ::pause for thought:: “Never mind. It was just me hyperventitilating when I checked the anemometer.” ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2014 "2023-02-15T06:59:43Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > He should have given Cueball a leafblower. And a heat gun. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2015 "2023-02-15T19:54:39Z")
> **[Omniknot](https://xkcd.com/2738/)** > > The Gordian knot is an omniknot tied using every bend in the Ashley Book of Knots, and then for extra security the upper rope at every crossing is connected to the lower with a randomly-chosen hitch. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2016 "2023-02-17T00:41:21Z")
OK, the ends are bowlines, with a figure eight each on the free end. From top to bottom, we have a granny, a square, a sheet bend, a… I don’t know that one, actually, but it looks like some sort of relative of a sheet bend, and then… a Celtic knot? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2017 "2023-02-17T16:44:03Z")
> **[Data Quality](https://xkcd.com/2739/)** > > \[exclamation about how cute your cat is\] -\> \[last 4 digits of your cat's chip ID\] -\> \[your cat's full chip ID\] -\> \[a drawing of your cat\] -\> \[photo of your cat\] -\> \[clone of your cat\] -\> \[your actual cat\] -\> \[my better cat\] ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2018 "2023-02-17T17:44:06Z")
Bottom looks like a Carrick bend to me. I can’t place the one above, although it looks familiar. Explain XKCD identifies that as a [double sheet bend.](https://www.101knots.com/double-sheet-bend.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2019 "2023-02-17T18:23:09Z")
Ah, but on which side of the lossy/lossless line does [clone of your cat] fall? d&r 😃 ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2020 "2023-02-17T22:00:54Z")
That depends. If you don’t know where the clone is, then that’s lossy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2021 "2023-02-18T01:37:16Z")
Oh, and the way Munroe drew his bowlines, it makes it very clear that a bowline is really just a rope sheet-bended to itself. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2022 "2023-02-21T00:23:26Z")
> **[Square Packing](https://xkcd.com/2740/)** > > I also managed to improve the solution for n=1 to s\<0.97, and with some upgrades I think I can hit 0.96. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=100) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=102)