# ­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:** 59
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1162 "2022-01-10T19:27:58Z")
Why is there a countdown timer at the top of the xkcd page? ---
**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:** [January 10, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1163 "2022-01-10T19:47:26Z")
JWT hitting L2? ---
**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:** [January 10, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1164 "2022-01-10T19:47:32Z")
Time to first light for JWST? ---
**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:** [January 10, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1165 "2022-01-10T19:47:34Z")
I believe it’s the time until the Yellowstone supervolcano blows. It looks like he left the years off, but [it’s probably fine.](https://xkcd.com/1159/) For real, it’s counting down to 1/31/2022 10:00 am EST, which is a very specific time for something science-related like a JWST milestone. So I’d guess some announcement about a book or new effort. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1166 "2022-01-10T20:36:42Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > JWT hitting L2? That will happen on the 23rd, so not that. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > Time to first light for JWST? I wouldn’t expect that that early, but could be. Googling did not produce an expected date. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1167 "2022-01-10T22:42:24Z")
> **[Decorative Constants](https://xkcd.com/2566/)** > > Arguably, the '1/2' in the drag equation is purely decorative, since drag coefficients are already unitless and could just as easily be half as big. Some derivations give more justification for the extra 1/2 than others, but one textbook just calls it 'a traditional tribute to Euler and Bernoulli.' ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1168 "2022-01-10T22:48:15Z")
Just like \hbar is a tribute to Max Planck’s insatiable hunger for pairs of pies. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1169 "2022-01-13T01:19:17Z")
> **[Language Development](https://xkcd.com/2567/)** > > The worst is the Terrible Twos, when they're always throwing things and shrieking, "forsooth, to bed thou shalt not take me, cur!" ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1170 "2022-01-15T04:18:26Z")
> **[Spinthariscope](https://xkcd.com/2568/)** > > Other high scorers are melt-in-your-hand aluminum-destroying gallium and tritium-powered glowsticks. Lawn darts are toward the other end. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1171 "2022-01-15T06:27:23Z")
As we’ve discussed before, many of us played with blobs of mercury when we were children. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1172 "2022-01-15T14:35:17Z")
Some of us still do [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/m8KzmlIEsHs/maxresdefault.jpg "Can I Stand On Liquid Mercury?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8KzmlIEsHs) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GvVaaZ21C44/maxresdefault.jpg "Flushing 240lbs of Mercury") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvVaaZ21C44) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/f5U63IGmy6Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Floating an Anvil on Liquid Mercury") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5U63IGmy6Q) ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1173 "2022-01-15T16:23:01Z")
Any guesses what he’s counting down to? Looks to be the end of the month, and what previously was just a diagonal line in the box now looks like an airliner vertical stabilizer. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1174 "2022-01-15T16:30:27Z")
It’s more than _just_ a countdown. There is something “emerging” within that box as well. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1175 "2022-01-15T16:35:33Z")
Someone (of course) is compiling the set of images as it changes. [https://munvoseli.github.io/xkcd-countdown/](https://munvoseli.github.io/xkcd-countdown/) ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1176 "2022-01-15T16:47:33Z")
I’m still going with a book or content announcement. The images used by the countdown are in a folder whose name starts with “wi”, so maybe something connected to his What If columns. Podcast? YouTube series? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1177 "2022-01-15T16:48:54Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > There is something “emerging” within that box as well. Anybody else think it now looks like an airplane wing? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1178 "2022-01-15T16:52:24Z")
I think more of an airplane tail, but it’s hard to say with just a couple of lines. Depends on how it is oriented and what the perspective is. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1179 "2022-01-15T21:05:09Z")
It looks like an airplane tail if you assume that we’re seeing most of it, but we don’t know how far it extends beyond the bottom of the frame. If it’s much longer, a wing would be a better fit. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2022, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1180 "2022-01-16T01:41:41Z")
Shark. Laser will show up next. Too easy. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1181 "2022-01-18T18:00:37Z")
> **[Hypothesis Generation](https://xkcd.com/2569/)** > > Frazzled scientists are requesting that everyone please stop generating hypotheses for a little bit while they work through the backlog. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=60)