# ­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:** 140
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2783 "2024-03-09T17:57:01Z")
Most folks have an understanding of physics that goes up to Newton (which is a fine place to stop - you can do a lot with Newton) - and with that paradigm, “science” is the thing that goes step by step to predict what’s going to happen. “Magic” is the thing that starts with the desired end point, and makes stuff happen to fulfill it (“I wish that guy was dead” - and an acorn falls, to startle a bird, which flies in front of a 18-wheeler, which takes the turn too wide and wipes out that guy’s car"). But more modern formulations of physics include Lagrangian approaches, which sound more like the magic formulation. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2784 "2024-03-09T18:56:16Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Have we confirmed that dark matter exists? Is there no other possible explanation other than mysterious invisible matter that doesn’t interact with anything? Hence said one critic: > “For the moment we might very well call them DUNNOS (for Dark Unknown Nonreflective Nondetectable Objects Somewhere).” –Bill Bryson The thing is when dark matter was first proposed it was thought to be almost certain that it would turn out to be one particular form of Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMPs), namely heavy supersymmetric particles which were proposed for an extension of Grand Unified Theory which would link all fermion particles with all boson particles and vice-versa. The only problem is that supersymmetry is now almost completely dead as a theory- we would have detected the lightest members of this proposed class by now. So the WIMP model of dark matter has fallen back on more speculative possible particles such as axions or other such. In my more despondent moods I sometimes propose that “dark matter” will NEVER be detected. That every testable prediction for what it might be will be tried and fail. That the anomalous movement of galaxies will remain a hole in science forever; a wizard did it. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2785 "2024-03-09T19:10:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Gödel proved, effectively, that there exist things that cannot be explained. I don’t think that’s quite what Gödel proved; AIUI, he proved that for any formal system of axiomatic logic one can, by definition of the axioms themselves, produce statements which are unprovable within that system of logic. Hence there is no such thing as a perfect self-contained system of logic. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2786 "2024-03-09T19:40:28Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > In my more despondent moods I sometimes propose that “dark matter” will NEVER be detected. I’m hoping it turns out that there isn’t dark matter after all, but rather the behavior that dark matter explains ends up being explained by new laws of physics we have not confirmed or even thought of yet. Dark matter is what, 85% of all matter? It feels like we’re missing something that will become obvious after the next Einstein has their own annus mirabilis. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2787 "2024-03-11T23:13:12Z")
> **[Supergroup](https://xkcd.com/2905/)** > > I love their cover of 1,200 Balloons, Dalmatians, and Miles. He missed Two Nice Girls. Tell you the truth, I don’t follow music any more, so I’m not sure what numbers go with most of those names. OK, Nine Inch Nails and 2 Live Crew, but the rest… ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2788 "2024-03-11T23:21:26Z")
Who else besides me had to add up the bands to make sure it totaled 176? I did, they do. 21 + 5 + 4 + 2 + 100 + 3 + 9 + 1 + 1 + 30 ---
**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:** [March 11, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2789 "2024-03-11T23:22:48Z")
Also the alt-text: 99 + 101 + 1000 = 1200 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2790 "2024-03-12T00:29:22Z")
There appear to be a handful of songs called 1000 Miles, but none (in my estimation) is terribly well-known. I wonder if he’s combining the Proclaimers’ 500 Miles and Rosanne Cash’s 500 Miles? ---
**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:** [March 12, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2791 "2024-03-12T00:43:01Z")
Or even just the Proclaimers’ 500 miles + 500 more = 1000 ---
**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:** [March 12, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2792 "2024-03-12T00:44:39Z")
Though Vanessa Carlton’s _A Thousand Miles_ peaked at #5 on the BIllboard Hot 100, which isn’t too shabby. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2793 "2024-03-12T00:45:24Z")
So much for 10,000 Maniacs, guess they got blacklisted, or won’t all fit in the concert hall. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2794 "2024-03-12T00:50:54Z")
.38 Special had to cancel due to a rounding error. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2795 "2024-03-12T01:01:06Z")
There’s a group called Tree3: [https://www.tree3band.com/](https://www.tree3band.com/) TREE(3) is a [very, very large number](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/math/a28725/number-tree3/). If you used every atom in the universe to write down the number using “normal” math notation, you still wouldn’t come anywhere close to it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2796 "2024-03-12T15:06:07Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > .38 Special had to cancel due to a rounding error. They threw an `InvalidOperationException` on the attempted addition of a `double` to a running total of `int`s ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2797 "2024-03-12T19:34:48Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > none (in my estimation) is terribly well-known. Tell me you’re not a White Chick\* without telling me you’re not a White Chick\* \* [or Terry Crews](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u1nXZqxIZk) ---
**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:** [March 12, 2024, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2798 "2024-03-12T23:11:32Z")
Shouldn’t it be 68,040,000? ---
**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:** [March 12, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2799 "2024-03-12T23:15:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > They threw an `InvalidOperationException` on the attempted addition of a `double` to a running total of `int`s You’d only get 176.3799999999999954525264911353588104248046875 anyway. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2800 "2024-03-13T00:31:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Shouldn’t it be 68,040,000? Shouldn’t what be 68,040,000? ---
**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:** [March 13, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2801 "2024-03-13T00:47:59Z")
The number of pilots seconds of summer non blondes live crew GECS doors down inch nails Republic direction seconds to Mars. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2802 "2024-03-13T02:02:22Z")
You better explain how you got that number. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=139) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=141)