# ­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:** 319
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6363 "2026-09-13T20:07:11Z")
Which means the corruptible human is the weakness. As with most systems. ---
**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 14, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6364 "2026-09-14T23:24:11Z")
> **[Aerospace Flowchart](https://xkcd.com/3298/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/aerospace_flowchart.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/aerospace_flowchart.png) > [@](#): > > Someday, we will find the problem that goes with this solution. Personally, I’m fond of rockoons, flying vehicles that gradually build up speed and transition smoothly from buoyant flight, to aerodynamic flight, to orbit. ---
**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 14, 2026, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6365 "2026-09-14T23:55:42Z")
Besides a children’s cartoon show/toy line, the name rockoon seems to primarily refer to balloon-sounding rocket combos. But I remember seeing a proposal for a large flying wing dirigible that would start from the stratosphere and use electric propulsion to transition to generating lift and then by degrees achieve orbit. Is that the one you were thinking of? ---
**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 15, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6366 "2026-09-15T01:21:08Z")
Yeah, that’s what I was referring to. I thought it was called a rockoon, but maybe I misremembered the name. ---
**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 15, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6367 "2026-09-15T02:13:43Z")
Looks like the JP Aerospace Ascender concept. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6368 "2026-09-15T19:04:10Z")
Anyone for cold toast? New “What-if?”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9VG0yqq_PHM/maxresdefault.jpg "If you put a toaster in a freezer, which wins?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VG0yqq_PHM) Brian ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6369 "2026-09-15T21:34:35Z")
So freezers beat wolves? ---
**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:** [September 15, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6370 "2026-09-15T22:19:51Z")
Toaster heats freezer, freezer kills wolf, wolf eats toaster. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6371 "2026-09-15T22:26:29Z")
I note that the toast manages to stay out of this sordid little affair. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6372 "2026-09-15T23:04:54Z")
Because I put a fried egg with some butter, cheese, and some Cholula on it and ate it. Then I ate the wolf because I was really hungry that day. ---
**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 15, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6373 "2026-09-15T23:13:02Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I note that the toast manages to stay out of this sordid little affair. The toast is just a pawn in a game among the powerful. It always loses, no matter which of the other three is victorious. There’s probably a lesson in there for us. ---
**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 15, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6374 "2026-09-15T23:14:43Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Then I ate the wolf because I was really hungry that day. I hope you at least skewered it with some onions and mushrooms first. ---
**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 16, 2026, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6375 "2026-09-16T00:46:29Z")
If you’re going to eat wolves, it should be under a doctor’s care: [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/gut_fauna.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/gut_fauna.png) From **[Gut Fauna - xkcd](https://xkcd.com/1471/)**. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6376 "2026-09-16T01:12:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I hope you at least skewered it with some onions and mushrooms first. I said I was really hungry, not that I was a barbarian! There are standards after all. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2026, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6377 "2026-09-16T09:33:13Z")
The toast is toast. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2026, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6378 "2026-09-16T10:53:56Z")
That wolf looks way too thick to be gulped down by a stick figure. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2026, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6379 "2026-09-16T13:03:58Z")
Cf. the “Wizard of Id” strip where the Wizard proudly shows off a vitamin pill you only have to take every thirty days - and it’s four feet long: > — How am I supposed to swallow that? > > — You’ve got thirty days! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6380 "2026-09-16T20:42:28Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > gulped down by a stick figure. I’m all in favor of Randal’s discernibly cute animals (who’s a cute woofy woofy?), but why aren’t they stick animals? 🫤 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6381 "2026-09-16T22:53:40Z")
> **[Summer](https://xkcd.com/3299/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/summer.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/summer.png) “You should probably get back to shore before spring hits.” ---
**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 16, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/6382 "2026-09-16T23:05:34Z")
Dang, that was a long winter; it lasted two panels! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=318) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=320)