# ­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:** 230
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4583 "2025-07-03T20:44:14Z")
As an mediator with language I love ambiguity. If I can come up with an equally ambiguous translation (which in your example is perfectly feasible - Hell, the translation is already there!) everything is perfect. Let somebody else crack the problem or go down in flames. Pass the hot potato! Or, as you so appropiately wrote in the other thread: 😈 ---
**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:** [July 3, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4584 "2025-07-03T22:57:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s self-operating in the sense that I operate it myself. Kind of like this digital calculator. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvFIn-VPAVfdi4u2FB6nAsPrHpJCr8KklcZg&s) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvFIn-VPAVfdi4u2FB6nAsPrHpJCr8KklcZg&s) ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4585 "2025-07-03T23:20:58Z")
That third panel has to be a reference to Searching for Bobby Fisher, yes? I put the timestamp 1:16 into this link, but I’m not sure if embedded videos respect timestamps. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yOoGw9aTRhs/maxresdefault.jpg "Searching for Bobby Fischer (4/10) Movie CLIP - This Chess Thing (1993) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOoGw9aTRhs&t=1m16s) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4586 "2025-07-04T02:43:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Unclear to me whether / how they distinguish between currently active and former / deceased players. You pay yearly to post scores and establish a handicap. Inactive and dead golfers rarely pay. You also get 10s of thousands of course maps in detail. Games for groups, scoring in different formats. Your handicap is portable to other courses and tournaments around the world. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2025, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4587 "2025-07-04T08:52:56Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > As an mediator with language I love ambiguity. If I can come up with an equally ambiguous translation (which in your example is perfectly feasible - Hell, the translation is already there!) everything is perfect. Let somebody else crack the problem or go down in flames. Pass the hot potato! _[Wipes tear]_ I thought it was only me! As my motto goes, “I don’t write this shit, I just translate it.” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4588 "2025-07-04T20:00:35Z")
> **[Artificial Gravity](https://xkcd.com/3111/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/artificial_gravity.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/artificial_gravity.png) “Low gravity can cause bone loss, so we’re pleased to report that, since we initiated capsule motion, the number of bones in each crew member has been steadily increasing.” ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4589 "2025-07-04T20:10:59Z")
No relationship to any particular xkcd strip, but today’s Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is very much xkcd-ish, especially the graph: > **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Elephant](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/elephant)** > > Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Elephant ---
**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:** [July 4, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4590 "2025-07-04T20:52:37Z")
Somehow that graph reminds me of a side comment from a what-if to the effect that between overfishing and the growth of international commerce, the total weight of ships on the sea exceeds the total weight of fish in the sea. Sounds so wrong. Not “wrong” as in “factually incorrect”, but rather as in “disastrously irresponsible”. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4591 "2025-07-04T23:07:53Z")
Or an old Onion headline “Consumer-Product Diversity Now Exceeds Biodiversity”. > **[Consumer-Product Diversity Now Exceeds Biodiversity](https://theonion.com/consumer-product-diversity-now-exceeds-biodiversity-1819564919/)** > > WASHINGTON, DC–According to an EPA study conducted in conjunction with the U.N. Task Force On Global Developmental Impact, consumer-product diversity now exceeds biodiversity. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4592 "2025-07-05T00:25:29Z")
Brilliant! > [@The Onion](#): > > “Last year’s introduction of Dentyne Ice Cinnamint gum, right on the heels of the extinction of the Carolina tufted hen, put product diversity on top for the first time,” study chair Donald Hargrove said. “Today, the Procter & Gamble subphylum alone outnumbers insects two to one." Where’s @kenobi_65 when we need him? 😁 ---
**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:** [July 5, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4593 "2025-07-05T00:32:59Z")
Wouldn’t be surprising. Digikey carries 15.9 million products. McMaster-Carr carries 700,000. The number of identified species is around 2.2 million. Granted, those are more industrial suppliers than consumer product suppliers. But the numbers are certainly in the ballpark. On the other hand, there are many more unidentified species than identified. So the race may be closer than it seems. Wouldn’t shock me either way. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4594 "2025-07-08T01:02:06Z")
> **[Geology Murder](https://xkcd.com/3112/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/geology_murder.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/geology_murder.png) “After determining that his body was full of pipes carrying iron-rich fluid, our current theory is that the dagger-shaped object precipitated within the wound.” ---
**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:** [July 8, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4595 "2025-07-08T13:23:18Z")
I just sent this to my son who’ll be studying geology this fall. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4596 "2025-07-08T14:45:19Z")
I’m not willing to put in the effort, but it’d be sorta funny to try to emulate this comic but using each of our own degree areas. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4597 "2025-07-08T14:46:02Z")
Nothing to do with me, it’s obviously a hardware problem. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4598 "2025-07-08T17:45:27Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Nothing to do with me, it’s obviously a hardware problem EE: We’ll fix it in software. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4599 "2025-07-08T18:31:14Z")
New animation of a _What If_ article. I think this is from one of the books and never appeared on the website. [What if the moon turned into a black hole?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQgw50GQu1A) ---
**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:** [July 8, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4600 "2025-07-08T18:54:56Z")
One consequence of a black hole moon would be that large velocity changes for probes and space missions would be available for free or nearly free thanks to flybys and Oberth maneuvers. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4601 "2025-07-08T19:24:09Z")
But how long would they take? ---
**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:** [July 8, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4602 "2025-07-08T19:38:00Z")
The math is beyond me; but if tidal forces allowing you could fly within 20 kilometers of a moon-massed black hole orbiting the Earth at the moon’s orbital speed, I suspect the “slingshot” effect would be substantial. As would the velocity gain from performing a maneuver burn at periapsis (perihole?). The fact that such a velocity gain would be available at a distance that’s trivial in astronomical terms would be very helpful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=229) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=231)