# ­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:** 114
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2263 "2023-07-01T07:34:56Z")
Jupiter left me cold. Neptune even more so. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2264 "2023-07-03T18:31:17Z")
> **[Actual Progress](https://xkcd.com/2797/)** > > Slowly progressing from 'how do protons behave in relativistic collisions?' to 'what the heck are protons even doing when they're just sitting there?' ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2265 "2023-07-03T19:51:50Z")
Now that is a really good one. And not, of course, only about protons. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2266 "2023-07-03T19:54:17Z")
Yeah, that one’s going up on my (math dept) office door, but without the rollover text. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2267 "2023-07-03T23:05:19Z")
The mouseover text is a lot more on point than most folks realize. Part of the calculation of relativistic collisions of particles is something called the propagator… which is, in fact, a description of what the particle is doing when it’s just sitting there. This is bad enough for electrons, but it’s so much worse for protons, because they’re composite particles. Composite particles bound together by a force that we understand only poorly. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2268 "2023-07-03T23:22:51Z")
A good article on the crazy internal complexity of the proton: > **[Inside the Proton, the ‘Most Complicated Thing’ Imaginable](https://www.quantamagazine.org/inside-the-proton-the-most-complicated-thing-imaginable-20221019/)** > > The positively charged particle at the heart of the atom is an object of unspeakable complexity, one that changes its appearance depending on how it is probed. We’ve attempted to connect the proton’s many faces to form the most complete picture yet. The 3-quark model is just an approximation of one of the limiting cases. There’s far more going inside than just that. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2269 "2023-07-06T00:30:34Z")
> **[Room Temperature](https://xkcd.com/2798/)** > > They're also refusing to fund my device that demonstrates uncontrolled hot fusion. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2270 "2023-07-08T05:16:24Z")
> **[Frankenstein Claim Permutations](https://xkcd.com/2799/)** > > When I began trying to form a new claim by stitching together these parts in such an unnatural way, some called me mad. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2271 "2023-07-08T12:07:28Z")
I was genuinely surprised not to see “Dr Frankenstein _is_ the monster. His unnamed creation is the victim.” ---
**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:** [July 8, 2023, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2272 "2023-07-08T12:31:55Z")
Or “The doctor and the creature are both named Frankenstein, because the creature took on his father’s last name (their first names are Victor and Adam, respectively).” But those would both have been too normal. He already had two normal entries, at which point it was time to start going weird. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2023, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2273 "2023-07-08T14:30:13Z")
That’s _Frankensteen_! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2274 "2023-07-08T20:04:21Z")
Fascinating! (to the extent I understood it) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2275 "2023-07-08T20:07:37Z")
The second answer could be interpreted as meaning that. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2023, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2276 "2023-07-08T21:44:29Z")
Oh, and the comic says it’s “permutations”, and those six are indeed the possible permutations of author, doctor, and creature. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2277 "2023-07-08T23:21:38Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The second answer could be interpreted as meaning that. It’s undercut by the note “not worth getting mad about,” which implies the names are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2278 "2023-07-08T23:46:44Z")
Or that the doctor has retained his sanity. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2279 "2023-07-10T17:30:01Z")
> **[Down](https://xkcd.com/2800/)** > > It's just that I get nervous about heights. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2280 "2023-07-13T15:56:04Z")
> **[Contact Merge](https://xkcd.com/2801/)** > > I actually kind of feel like John and Surf King wouldn't like each other, which is a lot to unpack. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2281 "2023-07-13T16:00:03Z")
I feel like he’d already done the Down one before… ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2282 "2023-07-15T03:10:38Z")
You try writing nearly 2800 jokes without repeating yourself! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=113) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=115)