# ­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:** 98
**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 13, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1943 "2023-01-13T01:01:13Z")
You speak of time as it passes within the Universe, because that’s the only context possible. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1944 "2023-01-13T21:12:23Z")
> **[Washing Machine Settings](https://xkcd.com/2724/)** > > I guess the engineers who built my dishwasher MIGHT have some insight into how to load it, but instead of reading the booklet they gave me, it seems easier to experiment for years and then get in arguments so heated that I get banned from Quora. ---
**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 13, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1945 "2023-01-13T21:22:38Z")
Now many of the product manuals are online so you do have to google them. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1946 "2023-01-13T21:26:09Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Now many of the product manuals are online so you do have to google them. ⁢ And, even if you don’t have to, it’s often easier. You can search the electronic manual for the specific information, rather than having to read through it. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1947 "2023-01-14T02:01:42Z")
Not to mention searching Google for the manual instead of searching your house ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1948 "2023-01-14T20:39:59Z")
That’s why I download and save any manual I think I might need to consult later. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1949 "2023-01-17T06:56:34Z")
> **[Sunspot Cycle](https://xkcd.com/2725/)** > > Who can forget the early 2010s memes? 'You know you're a 90s kid if you remember the feeling of warm sunlight on your face.' 'Only 90s kids remember the dawn.' ---
**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:** [January 17, 2023, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1950 "2023-01-17T08:55:31Z")
Although the cooling effect on Earth would be dramatic (and cataclysmic), the sun would not look remotely dark if it were one giant sunspot. The interior of a sunspot is still as bright as an arc lamp–it just looks dark in comparison to the rest of the surface. It would seem a little more dim than usual, but anyone that’s been through a partial solar eclipse knows that even if you reduce the total light by 90%, it still basically looks like daylight. ---
**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 17, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1951 "2023-01-17T23:15:20Z")
Eh, maybe you can envision some alternate universe where the laws of astrophysics are completely different and sunspots are still very, very bright, and dark only by comparison. Heck, maybe in that alternate universe, they don’t even completely cover the surface of the Sun. Here in our universe, though, they’re completely dark. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1952 "2023-01-17T23:26:48Z")
Good thing we have all these warm caves, then. Otherwise the solid oxygen snow would be a real problem. Too bad we still have to hibernate through most of the dark period. Hey, what’s that new bright thing in the sky? Haven’t seen _that_ before. And it’s putting out some funny radio signals. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1953 "2023-01-17T23:42:36Z")
Almost a real-life OnOff star. > **[r/printSF - A Real OnOff Star, Like in Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/qb08by/a_real_onoff_star_like_in_vinges_a_deepness_in/)** > > 21 votes and 6 comments so far on Reddit But not like the real OnOff star. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1954 "2023-01-18T00:21:03Z")
I understand this comic but I’m not really sure what, if anything, the joke is supposed to be. And I pride myself on getting people’s weird jokes. This just seems to be a depiction of an alternate reality where the (real) solar cycle has a more profound impact on the sun’s light output, which I guess is supposed to tie with the 1980s and 2000s being worse than other periods, along with how people group themselves into generations. But then, saying things got brighter after 2014-ish hardly lines up with popular conception of the last 6 years or so. I guess this is just a really niche concept that tickled Munroe’s brain enough to graph it out. That’s fine, I guess, it’s his comic. Or maybe he’s hedging his bets when the sun really does turn dark in 2025 and everyone can go “There’s an XKCD for everything!!” ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1955 "2023-01-18T00:23:50Z")
> [@Mr.E](#): > > But then, saying things got brighter after 2014-ish hardly lines up with popular conception of the last 6 years or so. You had it at the beginning, and then you threw it away. The comic is depicting an alternate reality where the sun physically dims and brightens. The graph showing brightness in the last decade has no symbolic or metaphorical significance whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1956 "2023-01-18T00:25:47Z")
Fair enough. I do think you’re right, there’s no deeper meaning to ascribe to this. But I do think I’ll put a few bucks down on “sun goes dim in 2025” just to be safe. ---
**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 18, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1957 "2023-01-18T00:51:37Z")
Part of the humor is the contrast between the cosmic implications of the alternate sunspot cycle, and the banality of people using it for clickbait “generational-signifier” articles. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1958 "2023-01-18T01:22:30Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > There’s exactly one chemical element whose back-formed systematic name’s symbol works out to the same as the actual symbol used. I’m not following; what elements have “symbols” rather than abbreviations, other than old alchemical ones? Also, it now occurs to me: half an hour after the Big Bang, just what was the science textbook printed on? ETA: and btw, is the verdict back on whether there was in fact a very tiny amount of primordial beryllium? Sources I’ve found differ. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1959 "2023-01-18T01:32:54Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I’m not following; what elements have “symbols” rather than abbreviations, other than old alchemical ones? The things you think are abbreviations of element names are technically symbols. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1960 "2023-01-18T01:42:36Z")
Well I’m whooshed so you’ll have to spoon-feed it to this senile old duffer. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1961 "2023-01-18T01:53:48Z")
I’m not sure about **dtilque** ’s comment, but I believe the answer is Oxygen = Octium = O. The systematic name is just the digits of the atomic number translated to nil/un/bi/tri/quad/pent/hex/sept/oxt/enn. Mostly only relevant for new elements (like Unnilquadium). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/1962 "2023-01-18T02:14:48Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I’m not sure about **dtilque** ’s comment IUPAC is who calls them symbols. If you want to know for sure why, you’ll have to ask them. My guess is that they’re meant to be used in all languages, not just in English. Even languages that use the Latin alphabet may not use all the letters, but the chemists who speak those languages still use the same symbols. Also some of the symbols are based on names from other languages, notably Latin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=97) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=99)