# ­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:** 201
**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:** [February 15, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4003 "2025-02-15T16:16:07Z")
Would any of those have been usable as building lumber; or would they have been like palm trees, tall but more or less giant stalks? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4004 "2025-02-15T16:21:28Z")
I asked my dentist about 1 million RPM dental drills. He said they were too damn fast - if you moved, the drill would cut through the tooth. So, he stuck with the traditional slow (200-300K RPM) ones. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4005 "2025-02-15T16:53:56Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > would they have been like palm trees, tall but more or less giant stalks? Palm wood is used for construction all over the place. > **[Coconut timber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_timber)** > > Coconut timber is a hardwood-substitute from coconut palm trees. It is referred to in the Philippines as coconut lumber, or coco lumber, and elsewhere additionally as cocowood or red palm. It is a new timber resource that comes from plantation crops and offers an alternative to rainforest timber. > Coconut timber comes from farmed plantations of old coconut palms. The coconut palm was planted as a crop in large plantations throughout the tropics in the early half of the 20th century in order to ha... > **[Borassus flabellifer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borassus_flabellifer#Trunk)** > > Borassus flabellifer, commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, lontar palm, wine palm, or ice apple, is a fan palm native to South Asia (especially in Bangladesh, East India, and South India) and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socotra. > Borassus flabellifer is a robust tree and can reach a height of 30 metres (98 ft). The trunk is grey, robust, and ringed with leaf scars; old leaves remain attached to the trunk for several years before falling clea... But no, most Carboniferous trees were unifacial, they didn’t produce timber-like wood: > **[Unifacial cambium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unifacial_cambium)** > > The unifacial cambium (pl. cambia or cambiums) produces cells to the interior of its cylinder. These cells differentiate into xylem tissue. Unlike the more common bifacial cambium found in later woody plants, the unifacial cambium does not produce phloem to its exterior. Also in contrast to the bifacial cambium, the unifacial cambium is unable to expand its circumference with anticlinal cell division. Cell elongation provides a limited amount of expansion. > The unifacial cambium allowed plant... ---
**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:** [February 16, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4006 "2025-02-16T19:20:50Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@Lumpy](#): > > > > would they have been like palm trees, tall but more or less giant stalks? > > Palm wood is used for construction all over the place. I was going to say, i have some doodads made of palm wood just because it’s pretty. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4007 "2025-02-18T00:35:31Z")
> **[Archive Request](https://xkcd.com/3052/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/archive_request.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/archive_request.png) “They just want researchers in the enclosure to feel enriched and stimulated. (‘The Enclosure’ is what archivists call the shadowy world outside their archives in which so many people are trapped.)” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4008 "2025-02-19T23:29:52Z")
> **[KM3NeT](https://xkcd.com/3053/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/km3net.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/km3net.png) “Unfortunately, KM3NeT led to the discovery of the Pauli anglerfish, which emits Cherenkov radiation to prey on neutrino researchers.” ---
**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:** [February 19, 2025, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4009 "2025-02-19T23:33:54Z")
That sort of a groaner of a pun isn’t his usual style. But I suppose this particular one is too nerdy to be from anyone else. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2025, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4010 "2025-02-20T00:02:15Z")
How DO they filter out extraneous light sources? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4011 "2025-02-20T04:47:24Z")
I assume he recently became a father. That’s the only explanation for a dad joke of this magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4012 "2025-02-21T19:59:06Z")
> **[Scream Cipher](https://xkcd.com/3054/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/scream_cipher.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/scream_cipher.png) “AAAAAA A ÃA̧AȂA̦ ǍÅÂÃĀÁȂ AAAAAAA!” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4013 "2025-02-21T20:32:01Z")
And, of course, someone has already created a [web page](https://scream-cipher.netlify.app) that translates Scream Cipher. Sorry, what I meant to say was: Aâa̲, åa̮ a̧åäȃãá, ãåǎáåâá a̰aã aăȃáaa̲a̦ a̧ȃáaāáa̲ a ȁáȧ a̯aa̋á āa̰aā āȃaâãăaāáã Ãa̧ȃáaǎ A̧ảa̯a̰áȃ. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4014 "2025-02-21T22:02:33Z")
Would that be pronounceable as a tonal language? ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4015 "2025-02-22T03:33:48Z")
So _that’s_ what the [“Words that end in GRY”](https://xkcd.com/169/) guy was saying! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4016 "2025-02-25T02:01:16Z")
> **[Giants](https://xkcd.com/3055/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/giants.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/giants.png) “I can’t get over the suspicion that all those viral pictures are photoshopped and ‘Flemish’ belongs in the lower right circle.” ---
**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:** [February 25, 2025, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4017 "2025-02-25T02:12:31Z")
Isn’t the Atacama giant more archaeological than geologic/planetary? Also, it seems a bit of a cheat to have both planetary and space categories. Iron giant means different things for space and “not real”, but gas giant refers to the same thing. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4018 "2025-02-26T02:09:35Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Iron giant means different things for space and “not real”, Not necessarily. The “not real” Iron Giant was a space iron giant. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4019 "2025-02-26T02:21:18Z")
True, though I assume he was referring to one of these, given the pattern of red/blue: > **[Iron star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_star)** > > In astronomy, the term iron star has been used for two unrelated types of star: > An iron star is a type of blue supergiant which has a forest of forbidden FeII lines in its spectrum. They are potentially quiescent hot luminous blue variables. Eta Carinae has been described as a prototypical example. > An iron star is a hypothetical type of compact star that could occur in the universe in the extremely far future, after perhaps 101500 years. > The premise behind the formation of iron stars states t... And if not, then that makes it even less clever. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4020 "2025-02-26T10:48:29Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > > after perhaps 101500 years That’s oddly specific ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4021 "2025-02-26T11:06:36Z")
It’s actually 101500 years. Quite a long time! ---
**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:** [February 26, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4022 "2025-02-26T13:29:55Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > > > > after perhaps 101500 years > > That’s oddly specific “These dinosaur bones are 65,000,003 years old!” “I asked a museum security guard three years ago…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=202)