# ­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:** 165
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3283 "2024-07-29T00:33:19Z")
> the Winter Olympics officials spotted me and managed to stop me before I got to the ski jump. > Unlike [Eddie the Eagle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_the_Eagle) and [Eric the Eel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Moussambani). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3284 "2024-07-30T16:14:19Z")
> **[Chili Tornado Quake](https://xkcd.com/2965/)** > > Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3285 "2024-08-01T05:09:12Z")
> **[Exam Numbers](https://xkcd.com/2966/)** > > Calligraphy exam: Write down the number 37, spelled out, nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3286 "2024-08-01T14:41:22Z")
Not sure where this fits: Philosophy, maybe? “I don’t think I could eat more than three dozen donuts.” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2024, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3287 "2024-08-03T02:43:34Z")
> **[Matter](https://xkcd.com/2967/)** > > He was the first person to land a 900, which is especially impressive because pulling off a half-integer spin requires obeying Fermi-Dirac statistics. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2024, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3288 "2024-08-03T03:31:12Z")
Although it did fit Dirac’s original conception of occupied negative energy states, “antimatter” has an unfortunate connotation implying negative mass and energy, reversed inertia and so forth that antimatter doesn’t actually have. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3289 "2024-08-06T17:18:44Z")
> **[University Age](https://xkcd.com/2968/)** > > This only makes it more urgent that we adopt my roadmap for the next 10 years, which should put us solidly in the lead. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3290 "2024-08-06T17:22:30Z")
> This school was here before you came, and it’ll be here before you go! — Prof. Quincy Adams Wagstaff, _Horsefeathers_ ---
**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:** [August 6, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3291 "2024-08-06T17:35:31Z")
That reminds me of the fact that the University of Minnesota was established as a land grant college when Minnesota was still a territory; so the U retains a small but real degree of autonomy from the state government. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3292 "2024-08-06T17:56:49Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > land grant college Does everyone know what that means? I’ve heard it a couple of times in my life, but been confused every time… ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3293 "2024-08-06T18:26:12Z")
Land grant colleges were established and funded according to the terms of the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862. Basically, the nascent Republican Party, thanks to its vestiges of Whiggism, wanted to promote agriculture and industry in the various states, and the federal government held title to immense acreage of lands in the Western U.S. The Act allowed the states to take title to federal lands in their states (and if the acreage was not sufficient, title to other lands in the West) and sell that land to provde an endowment for colleges that would teach (and research) topics related to agriculture, engineering, and similar technical fields, rather than the prevailing course of study at colleges of the time which tended to be focused on liberal arts, classical studies, and theology. ETA: The amount of land allocated to each state was proportional to its representation in the electoral college, basically. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3294 "2024-08-06T18:29:34Z")
Ninja’ed. Well, here’s the Wikipedia [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land-grant_universityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land-grant_university). There were several acts over a long period of time. Lots of big state schools are land grant. One surprise: MIT. Long ago I thought the federal land grant was for the land to put the school on. But it was just a transference of federal land to states to sell and use that money to fund schools. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3295 "2024-08-06T19:39:35Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Lots of big state schools are land grant. One surprise: MIT. Probably a bigger surprise is that Rutgers and Cornell are also land grant schools. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3296 "2024-08-06T20:46:48Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s surprising how often often good writers fail basic math. A writer I like featured in one of his books an elite band of mercenary warriors, which the only way to join was by killing a member in single combat. Putting aside what a crappy system that is - forcing you to serve with someone who just killed your friend cannot be great for _espirit du corps_ - the question arises, who replaces the warriors killed in battle? I mean, these guys aren’t immortal. You see quite a few of them die. So that’s it, because they were killed by faceless enemy archers, they won’t ever be replaced? [Maybe they misunderstood the terms of the initiation.](https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0133.html) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3297 "2024-08-06T20:50:22Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Probably a bigger surprise is that Rutgers and Cornell are also land grant schools. I don’t understand. Why would that be a surprise? ---
**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:** [August 6, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3298 "2024-08-06T21:38:08Z")
The stereotype of a land grant college is that it focuses on agricultural studies, is located in the midwest, and is not a prestige school - and Cornell and Rutgers don’t fit that bill. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3299 "2024-08-07T04:36:04Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@ftg](#): > > > > Lots of big state schools are land grant. One surprise: MIT. > > Probably a bigger surprise is that Rutgers and Cornell are also land grant schools. That’s a bigger surprise than MIT? I think i learned about the existence of land grant schools from Cornell. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3300 "2024-08-07T06:00:14Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > That’s a bigger surprise than MIT? I think i learned about the existence of land grant schools from Cornell. If they didn’t know already, most people would probably be surprised an Ivy League school is a cow college. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3301 "2024-08-07T12:12:08Z")
MIT didn’t have a football team when the Ivy League was formed. So it’s not technically in the ivy League. But MIT and Stanford (also not Ivy League) are more prestigious than many of the schools in the Ivy League, including Cornell, IMHO. > **some details from Wikipedia** > > The initial MIT football team, nicknamed the Techmen, recorded its first victory by defeating Exeter College, 2–0, in 1881.[[2]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Engineers_football#cite_note-:0-2) In 1901, the MIT student body voted 119–117 to discontinue the intercollegiate football squad. The university did continue to field sophomore and freshman football teams into the 1920s. The last game played against another university was the MIT sophomore team against the Harvard freshman team in 1901.[[3]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Engineers_football#cite_note-3) > > [Ivy League - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_League) ---
**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:** [August 7, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3302 "2024-08-07T13:28:46Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Probably a bigger surprise is that Rutgers and Cornell are also land grant schools. Cornell, at least, still has a large agricultural college. I think Rutgers may also, though am not sure. ETA: There’s a Rutgers tomato, which was originally bred there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=164) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=166)