# ­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:** 172
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3423 "2024-09-19T15:17:00Z")
Drugs kill. The Hodads played the Avalon Ballroom, not the Fillmore. Subduction Zone was the opener. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3424 "2024-09-19T18:34:08Z")
Math checks out. > **[(tectonic plate speed) \* (20 years) - Wolfram|Alpha](https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=%28tectonic%2Bplate%2Bspeed%29%2B*%2B%2820%2Byears%29)** > > Wolfram|Alpha brings expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/VLZGeT0.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/VLZGeT0) ---
**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:** [September 19, 2024, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3425 "2024-09-19T19:19:09Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > But you have to have your legs apart, knees bent with your arms out. Otherwise you’re just a tectonic hodad. I have to disagree. A hodad pretends to surf but doesn’t really. If you don’t have your legs spread and arms out, you’re still riding those gnarly tectonic waves, but you’re pretending _not_ to surf. Maybe a dadho? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2024, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3426 "2024-09-21T07:35:58Z")
> **[Maslow's Pyramid](https://xkcd.com/2988/)** > > The local police, building inspector, and fire marshal are all contesting my 'safety' assertion, or would be if they could reach me past all the traps. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3427 "2024-09-21T15:24:39Z")
Hey, since conceptual models only exist, well, conceptually, you’ll find that they’re awfully damned difficult to take apart. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2024, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3428 "2024-09-24T09:31:54Z")
> **[Physics Lab Thermostat](https://xkcd.com/2989/)** > > Hopefully the HVAC people set it to only affect the AIR in the room. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3429 "2024-09-25T19:39:34Z")
> **[Late Cenozoic](https://xkcd.com/2990/)** > > Our nucleic acid recovery techinques found a great deal of homo sapiens DNA incorporated into the fossils, particularly the ones containing high levels of resin, leading to the theory that these dinosaurs preyed on the once-dominant primates. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3430 "2024-09-25T21:14:05Z")
If our museums survive in the fossil record, at least the future might know about spider webs. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3431 "2024-09-25T21:14:26Z")
And Spiderman. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3432 "2024-09-28T00:35:05Z")
> **[Beamsplitters](https://xkcd.com/2991/)** > > Under quantum tax law, photons sent through a beamsplitter don't actually choose which path they took, or incur a tax burden, until their wavefunction collapses when the power is sold. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3433 "2024-09-28T00:43:18Z")
Not even that bad an idea for a solar observatory. You want a high aperture for resolution, but a low aperture for light collection. So just reduce the intensity with a strong beamsplitter. You wouldn’t want to focus it to that small a point, but solar panels gain efficiency at high concentration (as long as they’re kept cool). ---
**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:** [September 29, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3434 "2024-09-29T16:20:32Z")
Even there, it’s probably still logistically easier to just build a normal telescope with a normal neutral-density filter, and put normal solar panels next to it. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3435 "2024-09-29T17:54:03Z")
It’s the thrill of getting away with something. Note that it’s a _secret_ solar panel. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3436 "2024-09-29T21:22:17Z")
Lots of science and engineering are done on the basis of “It’d be cool if we did it.” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2024, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3437 "2024-10-01T06:23:18Z")
> **[UK Coal](https://xkcd.com/2992/)** > > The Watership Down rabbits removed an additional 0.1 nanometers constructing their warren, although that was mostly soil. British rabbits have historically mined very little coal; the sole rabbit-run coal plant was shut down in the 1990s. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2024, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3438 "2024-10-01T09:16:22Z")
Took me a moment to get the hidden literary reference in the alt-text: “rabbit-run” ➡ _Rabbit, Run_ = 1960 novel by John Updike, whose protagonist is named Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom 0.1 nanometers = one angstrom “shut down in the 1990s” = Harry dies at the end of _Rabbit at Rest_ (1990), the fourth and last novel in Updike’s “Rabbit tetralogy” ---
**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:** [October 1, 2024, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3439 "2024-10-01T10:57:32Z")
Very nice. Thanks for digging out that reference. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3440 "2024-10-01T12:13:28Z")
Woah, that’s a deep cut. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2024, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3441 "2024-10-01T13:31:43Z")
I was about to say that you were really reaching here, but then remembered: It’s Randall Munroe. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2024, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3442 "2024-10-03T04:14:12Z")
> **[Ingredients](https://xkcd.com/2993/)** > > Add main-belt asteroids to taste. He forgot about Triton. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=171) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=173)