# ­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:** 223
**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:** [June 8, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4443 "2025-06-08T23:08:55Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Why not just put advertising on the Moon? It’s easier, to be sure. We could almost do it today. A while back I considered the idea of spreading a fluorescent material on the Moon’s surface. This would work even if just a few atoms thick, and so wouldn’t need much material. The idea is that it’s much easier to overcome the sun’s glare than carbon black or some kind of texturing. The Moon’s albedo is pretty low (~7%), and so converting a significant portion of the incident sunlight to a single frequency, you could have a pretty noticeable effect. Even more so if you hand out notch-filter “sunglasses” as part of the advertising effort that cut out all but the converted light. I didn’t come up with a good way of distributing the fluorescent material. But something like a rover-based sprinkler system might work. You could spray for quite a long distance in the low gravity and negligible atmosphere. But you’d still need a rover to drive many thousands of kilometers for a decent-sized image. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4444 "2025-06-08T23:13:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Frederick Pohl’s _The Space Merchants_ recycled that one. I may have mixed those two up on that detail. Read both of them way back. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4445 "2025-06-08T23:32:29Z")
Although could electrostatic dust levitation foul any plan to deposit a thin layer of pigment or reflectant? ---
**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:** [June 8, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4446 "2025-06-08T23:41:33Z")
Possibly. Or maybe one could make use of it. Ideally you’d want to spread it out very evenly–so maybe electrostatic repulsion could help the nanoparticles repel each other. The idea didn’t get past thought experiment stage, though, so I didn’t exactly test these things out. The advantage of fluorescent material over standard pigments is that they can convert a wide range of input frequencies to a narrow band of output frequencies. Hence why, for example, a box of Tide detergent looks _way_ more orange than it could ever be with a normal pigment. And it would work even better on the Moon where the UV light is unfiltered. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4447 "2025-06-09T22:34:04Z")
> **[Alert Sound](https://xkcd.com/3100/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/alert_sound.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/alert_sound.png) “With a good battery, the device can easily last for 5 or 10 years, although the walls probably won’t.” ---
**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:** [June 9, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4448 "2025-06-09T22:57:29Z")
I’ve had defective USB devices that would do this randomly. I’ve had defective drivers that would do it. I’ve had poorly-written programs that interface with USB devices that would. Windows itself, while updating drivers in the background, would do it. I doubt I’d even notice the prank device at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4449 "2025-06-10T01:20:13Z")
When Tim Kaine left the Virginia governor’s mansion for his successor to move in, he did something very much like this, with planted cell phones here and there. He would randomly call one, let it ring, and hang up hopefully before somebody could find it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4450 "2025-06-12T08:37:48Z")
> **[Good Science](https://xkcd.com/3101/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/good_science.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/good_science.png) “If you think curiosity without rigor is bad, you should see rigor without curiosity.” ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4451 "2025-06-12T11:08:43Z")
That is a very, _very_ strong meta-commentary on current politics and especially the assault on science. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4452 "2025-06-12T12:08:13Z")
Mr. Munroe continues to impress me. ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4453 "2025-06-12T12:57:46Z")
Eh, I think this one stinks. Must be from all the good science in 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:** [June 12, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4454 "2025-06-12T13:03:48Z")
As the great Scientist Thomas Dolby put it: > When I’m dancing close to her > Blinding me with science, science > Science > I can smell the chemicals > Blinding me with science, science > Science > Science [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/V83JR2IoI8k/maxresdefault.jpg "Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me With Science (Official Video - HD Remaster)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V83JR2IoI8k) ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4455 "2025-06-12T14:11:38Z")
Good heavens, Ms Yakamoto! You’re beautiful! ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4456 "2025-06-12T17:18:50Z")
Ammonia is crucial, you say? **[In cartoon form, no less?](https://condenaststore.com/featured/ammonia-ammonia-robert-grossman.html?srsltid=AfmBOopsg89gak0Q0g8p3tRlpYQHPUR-f3XH-3iF2TFv6_C_BHDhKAV_)** ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4457 "2025-06-12T17:19:34Z")
> **[Ways in Which She Could Have Blinded Me With Science](https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ways-in-which-she-could-have-blinded-me-with-science)** > > She exposed me to excessive ultraviolet radiation, which gave me terrible cataracts. > She removed all traces of vitamin A from my diet. > She launched... ---
**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:** [June 13, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4458 "2025-06-13T01:37:55Z")
She’s tidied up and **I can’t find anything!** ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4459 "2025-06-14T03:17:47Z")
> **[Reading a Big Number](https://xkcd.com/3102/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/reading_a_big_number.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/reading_a_big_number.png) “[desperately] Maybe this is from some country where they use commas as decimal points, and also as digit separators after the decimal, and also use random other characters for decoration???” ---
**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:** [June 14, 2025, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4460 "2025-06-14T09:35:14Z")
[“Oh, I’d say about ‘googol’ to one”](https://www.reddit.com/r/peanuts/comments/dwu79m/a_googol_to_one/) ---
**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:** [June 14, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4461 "2025-06-14T13:52:29Z")
My thought process usually starts with “Thousand, million, billion… There are a lot of digits, scan ahead, does it restate it in scientific notation? Sigh, no, back to the start, thousand, million, billion, trillion…” I’ve also thought for a while that we need a new digit, for indeterminate digits. Like, Avogadro’s number is sometimes referred to as “602 followed by twenty-one 0s”, but that’s not really right, because those twenty-one other digits probably aren’t zeroes; we just don’t care (for the earlier ones) or even know (for the later ones) what they are. So it’d be more accurately referred to as something like “602 followed by twenty-one ♢s”, or something. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2025, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4462 "2025-06-14T15:37:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > like “602 followed by twenty-one ♢s” I propose > like “602 followed by twenty-one #s” 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=222) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=224)