# ­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:** 145
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2883 "2024-03-28T20:40:18Z")
Cursive L is indeed fun to write. That’s one of the reasons I changed my name when I married. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2884 "2024-03-28T21:04:00Z")
To Laverne? > **[Laverne & Shirley (1976)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074016/mediaviewer/rm409454592/?ref_=tt_md_8)** > > Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams in Laverne & Shirley (1976) Brian ---
**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 28, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2885 "2024-03-28T21:20:29Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > To Laverne? Makes me think of Gary Larson’s signature: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/yiF1RAd.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/yiF1RAd) The association with the comic means it’s impossible for me to take the letter seriously. ---
**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 28, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2886 "2024-03-28T21:27:10Z")
I have to disagree with the position of the capital D. Written correctly, it’s just as swoopy-swirly as the L. [![](https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.3762484797.6337/st,small,507x507-pad,600x600,f8f8f8.u3.jpg) ](https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.3762484797.6337/st,small,507x507-pad,600x600,f8f8f8.u3.jpg) ---
**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 28, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2887 "2024-03-28T21:36:41Z")
And he clearly never learned the cursive system where Q is 2. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2888 "2024-03-28T21:39:27Z")
The reason I agreed that the L is the most fun is that I learned the one where the bottom of the L goes beneath the next letter or two. Before that I learned the one closest to your Larson example, except maybe a bigger loop and shorter bottom. That one looks fancy, but not like an L. For a while, I experimented with a T (and F) that looked a lot like that version of an L. But I like the ones that look more like a T. This is mostly what I use, other than a slightly different W (more curved) and X (strokes kiss, not cross). > **[Basic Handwriting for Kids - Cursive - Uppercase - Alphabet Animations](https://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/cursive/animation/uppercase.htm)** > > Handwriting for kids. Free lessons to teach kids and adults how to write alphabets, numbers, sentences, bible school, scriptures, and even their name! Interactive math such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Spanish... ---
**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 28, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2889 "2024-03-28T21:57:46Z")
From Tom Lehrer’s “The Professor’s Song”: My diagrams are models of true art, you must agree, And my handwriting is famous for its legibility. Take a word like “minimum” (to choose a random word), For anyone to say he cannot read that, is absurd! — sung at a blackboard while writing / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2890 "2024-03-30T02:22:57Z")
> **[Periodic Table Regions](https://xkcd.com/2913/)** > > Cesium-133, let it be. Cesium-134, let it be even more. ---
**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 30, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2891 "2024-03-30T03:14:15Z")
If phosphorus is going to be included in “you are here”, they really should include sulfur too. ---
**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 30, 2024, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2892 "2024-03-30T08:07:26Z")
Looks like a Simpsons reference in the alt-text: > Leaves of three, let it be. Leaves of four, eat some more! ---
**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 30, 2024, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2893 "2024-03-30T12:49:15Z")
“Leaves of three, let it be” goes back way before The Simpsons. And sulfur is in one amino acid out of twenty, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some life that just lacks that amino acid entirely, but phosphorus is used in molecules like DNA and ATP that life as we know it can’t exist without. I’d definitely say that P is the more essential of the two. Though the “You Are Here” does cut out a corner of S, too. I’m surprised that silicon doesn’t have more to it than just “weird metals”. ---
**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 30, 2024, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2894 "2024-03-30T13:05:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Leaves of three, let it be” goes back way before The Simpsons. Indeed - but “leaves of four”? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2895 "2024-04-01T20:17:45Z")
As a former chemistry teacher, I love this one!! ---
**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:** [April 1, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2896 "2024-04-01T21:50:43Z")
Can you explain the “very specific health problems” section? ---
**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:** [April 1, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2897 "2024-04-01T21:56:34Z")
That’s iodine and radon. Radon is a radioactive gas and can build up in basements–clearly unsafe to breathe. Iodine could refer to a deficiency (uncommon these days because it’s added to salt) or the fact that radioactive iodine is a serious danger if you’ve survived a nuclear bomb. One solution is to take large amounts of non-radioactive iodine to flush out the bad stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2898 "2024-04-01T22:54:49Z")
IIRC, radon decays into lead. You definitely do not want particles of lead in your lungs. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2024, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2899 "2024-04-01T22:58:59Z")
I think the radiation is the worse effect here. Probably the “very specific” aspect of this is that radon causes lung cancer, while (radioactive) iodine causes thyroid cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2900 "2024-04-01T22:59:08Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > One solution is to take large amounts of non-radioactive iodine to flush out the bad stuff. There’s actually multiple references to this in the fantastic HBO series Chernobyl. Going off memory “if you load your thyroid with stable iodine it won’t intake the radioactive iodine. Take one of these a day.” ---
**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:** [April 2, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2901 "2024-04-02T01:05:50Z")
Radon eventually decays into lead 206 but on the way it decays into other radioactive isotopes. While the amount of radon one might be exposed to is miniscule, the problem is that radon is easy to breathe in, but then if any of it decays while in your lungs, the radioactive [daughter isotopes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon#Daughters) are not as easy to breathe out again. You thus accumulate alpha-particle emitters in the interior of your lungs- not good. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2024, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/2902 "2024-04-02T11:34:55Z")
Yeah - the **[decay chain of Radon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon-222#/media/File:Decay_chain(4n+2,_Uranium_series).PNG)** is nasty (wiki pic). Plus of course the usual concern with radon is in basements where due to continuous emission and weak ventilation it can collect into a material concentration, while outside the same house the concentration is low enough not to matter. I lived an a major radon zone for 20 years. A hefty fraction of nearby houses had basement radon mitigation systems. Mine did not, but I was built on a hill of sieved fill, not dug into the granite-filled virgin soil. Our radon tests were clear every year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=144) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=146)