me & the tumblr ui are fighting.
accidental reblog shame counter: 6
sometimes i reblog cool additions outside of the actual feed. these are tagged #reblogs.
transcripts are under a cut when > ~95% identical to the image description in the alt text.
general policy is to not use the word ‘official’ as a joke because i’m not randall munroe. if you gotta call me something call me not randy.
what’s the most common tags you get on a post?
“the xkcd guys have names???”
one last thing:
![[xkcd 3007 "probalistic uncertainty", cropped only to read:] "Prepare for the bad outcome while remembering that the future isn't certain and hope is justified."](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8f93e8877d8d1579cc665599fc305d31/404e1b9b8a126143-39/s640x960/263d79ce46aeed90c31bd3ad44c52375ca9a3a10.png)
ALT![[Ponytail is presenting to Cueball and Megan a drop down screen.] [On the screen is a side view of a deep-water telescope, attached to the bedrock, floating in the ocean.] Ponytail: The K.M. 3 N. E. T. deep-water telescope detects the flashes of Cherenkov light from neutrino interactions. Cueball: How do you know you aren't just seeing bioluminescent fish? Ponytail: Cherenkov radiation is only emitted when things exceed the local speed of light, so it can't be produced by under-c life.](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d4f39c78d3f3cbaf06b36da2e5504a6c/df74f872e60ac36e-de/s640x960/8cdb6c88fc8225c394e7ab6179760f40a8e9ddd5.png)
ALTUnfortunately, KM3NeT led to the discovery of the Pauli anglerfish, which emits Cherenkov radiation to prey on neutrino researchers.
Transcript Under the Cut
They just want researchers in the enclosure to feel enriched and stimulated. (‘The Enclosure’ is what archivists call the shadowy world outside their archives in which so many people are trapped.)
Transcript Under the Cut
![[Cueball holds a basketball-sized atom away from himself as Ponytail touches it and Hairy looks on. The atom is wiggling.] Cueball: Ugh, the electron cloud is so weird and wobbly! I hate it! Ponytail: Why is it so wet? How can it even be wet? Hairy: I don't want to do physics anymore. Caption: When our lab was building the quantum expander device, we didn't expect our first discovery to be "atoms are really gross."](https://64.media.tumblr.com/09e5554d19905e5d9d00ddf73224be06/4eab972ec89bcb2e-12/s640x960/8cbe2755d91f98e51f97d3a0dfd241e9f890b5a2.png)
ALTWhat’s weirder is that muons turned out to be INCREDIBLY cute.
Transcript Under the Cut
![Title: Multi-function rotary tool. [A slider on the side of a tool with various settings, each labeled with the speed in r p m on one side and labels like "dental drill", "airplane propeller" and "clock hands". Currently it is set to "screwdriver".]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/050ad802058aefab63d02c69f54ade84/a32d46d1728a9074-70/s1280x1920/de5ea22cd23c4fd3124fa07580b38ca2169a7ab1.png)
ALTIt was great until my thumb slipped and I accidentally launched my telescope into the air at Mach 8.
Transcript Under the Cut
Multi-function rotary tool
[A slider on the side of a tool with various settings.] Speed (rpm) Function 0.000000000073: Sidereal mount precession adapter
0.00070: Sidereal telescope mount
[Following three are labeled “clock hands”:] 0.0014: h 0.017: m 1: s
[Following three are labeled “record player”:] 33: 33 45: 45 72: 72
300: Screwdriver [Current setting]
1500: Drill
2500: Airplane propeller
35 000: Dremel
60 000: Uranium enrichment centrifuge
300 000: Dental drill
![[Cueball and Beret Guy walk up a grassy hill.] [They continue and reach the summit.] Beret Guy: I learned something today. Beret Guy: I went on one of those family tree sites and kept clicking back, and it turns out I'm related to stromatolites! Cueball: The bacterial mats? Beret Guy: Yeah! A few billion years back, on my mitochondria's side. Beret Guy: My Archaean ancestors absorbed some bacteria that were cousins of stromatolites. That's how I got mitochondria. Cell nuclei, too. Cueball: I think there are still living stromatolites. You could get in touch. Beret Guy: Nah, they're probably busy. I don't want to bother them. Cueball: So what are you going to do with this knowledge? Nothing? Beret Guy: Lying on a hill in the warm sun is an old family tradition.](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c89001703c4bee9cd88768fa7be5a9ea/635db03644e420a1-6e/s1280x1920/748d8c4768055bee51193501fdfa548815656ad3.png)
ALTIf only my ancestors had been fortunate enough to marry into the branch of the bacteria family that could photosynthesize, like all my little green cousins here.
Transcript Under the Cut
They should add a little sticker that certifies that the humidifier supports water conservation, but in the sense of energy conservation or momentum conservation.
Transcript Under the Cut
![[Cueball is standing in front of a whiteboard.] Cueball: Muons created in the upper atmosphere decay immediately, but fast moving muuuuuoooons are able to reach the surface due to their longer half-lives. Caption: Physics tip: Remember to adjust your pronunciations to account for time dilation.](https://64.media.tumblr.com/f1d9946547ef103305195b820677b378/03f0e24798d0f66f-e1/s640x960/a4a8b890c806c8027ec7c67c97f290b3c699345c.png)
ALTUpdate: I’ve been banned from the physics department for the way I pronounce “Doppler effect.”
Transcript Under the Cut
![[A two-axis graph of with the Y-axis being limbs and the X-axis being time. Under 150 million years ago, a (hypothetical) T-Rex ancestor is shown with the label "four normal limbs". An arrow runs from it to the bottom right to a historical T-Rex under around 70 M Y A with the label "barely more than two". At the 65 M Y A point is the label "extinction". From the regular T-Rex runs a dotted line to a T-Rex under the label "now" possessing a boat-like body and no limbs, labeled with question marks.] Caption: If T-Rex hadn't gone extinct (linear extrapolation).](https://64.media.tumblr.com/f10cd2afe32dea15acfb4b6e3b78e168/9401e0e858622ae9-60/s1280x1920/da7f6cc8e641c68507752c93096f3fc9d6eb7e11.png)
ALTUnfortunately, body size and bite force continue to increase.
Transcript
[A graph is shown. The Y-axis is labelled and has two labeled ticks at the top and halfway up from the X-axis:]
Limbs 4, 2
[The X-axis is not labelled but represents time and it has ticks every 10 million years, from 180 million years ago until present time. Every fifth tick is a bit larger and has a label beneath it. Except the one at the present time. Below the last tick is an arrow pointing to that tick with a label. There is another arrow that points to about 65 million years ago and this also has a label:]
150 million years ago
100 MYA
50 MYA
Now
Extinction
[The graph shows three animals positioned from the top left, to the middle to the bottom right of the graph.]
[The first animal is a regular dinosaur walking on its hind legs, with fairly long front legs. It is positioned at 4 limbs and 150 million years ago. A label is written above and right of it:]
4 normal limbs
[An arrow goes along the diagonal of the chart down and right and points to the second animal, a Tyrannosaur Rex, which is located in the middle of the chart next to 2 limbs and, just left of the “extinction” arrow. Larger than the first and with almost no front legs. A label is written above and right of it:]
Barely more than 2
[A dashed arrow with a label in the middle continues along the diagonal of the chart to the last animal: A leg-less “dinosaur” with a big open mouth. The animal lies on its belly but with the head part and the tail lifted from the ground. A label is written above it.] ? ???
[Caption below the panel:] If T. Rex hadn’t gone extinct (Linear extrapolation)
![[White Hat, Ponytail, Miss Lenhart, Cueball, and Megan are standing in a field around a circle with a radius marked on it. White Hat stands behind Ponytail who writes in a notebook while looking down at Miss Lenhart, who is touching the circle. Cueball stands on the other side holding a large caliper-like measuring instrument. Behind him Megan takes a photo with her camera.] Caption: Math breakthrough: Dimensional analysts have discovered a real unit circle. Once they measure it, units can finally be added to all our geometry textbooks.](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d2391fc8c3fdc1be61c8d7c74a1d14ad/9b03e03f82a217ca-37/s1280x1920/d82a6bd79551a256b175853edbc4a82e6cf03f8f.png)
ALTThey’re continuing to search for a square with the same area as the circle, as efforts to construct one have run into difficulties.
Transcript
[White Hat, Ponytail, Miss Lenhart, Cueball, and Megan are standing in a field. White Hat stands behind Ponytail who is holding a notebook and taking notes while looking down at Miss Lenhart who is kneeling and holding her hands on a circular object with the radius marked on it. The radius is pointing away from her towards Cueball standing on the other side. He is holding a large caliper-like measuring instrument with the two arms poised over the object ready to measure its diameter. Behind him Megan is taking a photo of the object with her phone turned sideways.]
[Caption below the panel:] Math breakthrough: Dimensional analysts have discovered a real unit circle. Once they measure it, units can finally be added to all our geometry textbooks.
![[Cueball is holding a pointer and gesturing towards a whiteboard that shows the chemical formulas H C O O H and C H-3 C O O H.] Cueball: The two simplest carboxylic acids are hakoo and chuckoo. Off-Panel: No!! Caption: How to annoy chemists.](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a05134d3164cd3a60ac7875049ecdb52/7ec58fead9d98182-93/s640x960/d9be8a483e27bcdc51b9d28c0976fe596bd5cbdd.png)
ALTCan you pass the nackle?
Transcript Under the Cut