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xkcd bot

title text: If a materials scientist gives you a present, always ask whether regifting will incur any requirements for Federal paperwork.

(xkcd.com/2856)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

Single panel comic.

Three figures (pony tail, hat, and no hair) are standing around a table with wrapped presents on it. No hair is hold one of them.

No hair says "Where is this wrapping paper from? It's so thin, but I can't tear it. Is this amarid fabric?! Maybe I can unpeeled the...ooh, the tape flashes as I pull it up! Triboluminescence! Did you add a phosphor? It's so bright! Wait, are these patterns structural coloration?"

Lower caption: materials scientists are like cats--the best present you can get them is an empty box with cool wrapping paper.
Nazo

@xkcdbot I feel like this sort of wrapping would please quite a lot of people. 😁

xkcd bot

title text: The problems started with my resolution next year to reject temporal causality.

(xkcd.com/2855)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

Single panel comic.

No hair says "My new year's resolution this year was the reject empiricism."

Short hair replies "And how's that been working out for you?"

No hair replies "What does that have to do with anything?"
xkcd bot

title text: The ball's density also varies, but players don't learn the value until after choosing their raquets. The infamous 'bowling ball table tennis' region of the parameter space often leads to equipment damage.

(xkcd.com/2852)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

Single panel comic divided in 4 quadrants.

Upper left: Two people holding tennis sized rackets face each other on opposite sides of a net with a ball bouncing from one side to the other. The court is about 1.5 times their height in width and 3 times their height in length. The net is about the same height as the people and the ball is easily larger than their heads.

Upper right: Far away image of two people holding rackets on a very large court (5 times their height in width and 10 times in length) with a net of a similar height to the people. The ball is about the size of a tennis ball.

Lower left: Two people holding ping-pong sized paddles face each other across a standard square table meant to seat four people. There is a very short net dividing it in half. The ball is the size of ping-pong ball.

Lower right: Two people holding tennis sized rackets face each other divided by a net 2 times their height. The court is also 2 times their height in both length and width. One of the players is attempting to avoid being crushed by a giant ball with a diameter equal to the height of the people. 

Lower caption: Parameterball is a racket game divided into four quarters, with ball size, court size, and net height randomized each quarter.
xkcd bot

title text: I average out the spring and fall changes and just set my clocks 39 minutes ahead year-round.

(xkcd.com/2846)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

Single panel comic.

One person at a podium, two flanking them. Person at the podium says: From now on, everyone who likes daylight savings time should change their clocks, and everyone who doesn't, shouldn't.

Lower caption: the government finally decides to put an end to all the arguments.
Dallas (Join Something IRL)

@xkcdbot

People should be prohibited from changing their clocks after 6 weeks from conception. After that they should carry DST to full term.

cube!

@xkcdbot i genuinely have a designated clock for both sides of the shift, and i also use clocks that i *do* change to help me remember which is 'wrong'. my family will never understand me.

xkcd bot

title text: If they're going to make people ride bikes and scooters in traffic, then it should at LEAST be legal to do the Snow Crash thing where you use a hook-shot-style harpoon to catch free rides from cars.

(xkcd.com/2832)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

If they're going to make people ride bikes and scooters in traffic, then it should at LEAST be legal to do the Snow Crash thing where you use a hook-shot-style harpoon to catch free rides from cars.
xkcd bot

title text: It can be expensive to hire a professional spectroscopist for your wedding, but the quality of the spectra you get is worth it.

(xkcd.com/2826)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

It can be expensive to hire a professional spectroscopist for your wedding, but the quality of the spectra you get is worth it.
Sam Levine

@xkcdbot

3 panel comic.

1. No hair holding something shiny says "It kinda makes sense that we use gold for wedding rings."

2. No hair says: "Because a lot of the universe's gold was probably produced by R-process nucleosynthesis when pairs of neutron stars spiraled together and merged. So gold exists because two neutron stars got married."

#AltText 1/2

Vinay ಕಶ್ಯಪ್ (Mr./Dr.)

@xkcdbot As a professional spectroscopist, albeit of the non-neutron star variety whose bouquets only make nice aurorae, I fully endorse this message.

xkcd bot

title text: Escape Artist Frees Self From Conversation With Pickup Artist

(xkcd.com/2824)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

Escape Artist Frees Self From Conversation With Pickup Artist
xkcd bot

title text: The two best reasons to get into fossils are booping trilobites and getting to say the word "fossiliferous" a lot.

(xkcd.com/2823)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

The two best reasons to get into fossils are booping trilobites and getting to say the word "fossiliferous" a lot.
Sam Levine

@xkcdbot 3 panel comic.
1. Four people studying rocks in a desert landscape. The closest one is looking at a rock and says "It's weird to pry open a rock and see an animal that no one has laid eyes on for 400 million years."
2. Zoom in to the same person looking at the rock split in half.
3. Zoom out slightly to the person says "Boop!" Off screen someone responds by yelling "Hey! Don't boop the trilobites!"

#AltText

@xkcdbot 3 panel comic.
1. Four people studying rocks in a desert landscape. The closest one is looking at a rock and says "It's weird to pry open a rock and see an animal that no one has laid eyes on for 400 million years."
2. Zoom in to the same person looking at the rock split in half.
3. Zoom out slightly to the person says "Boop!" Off screen someone responds by yelling "Hey! Don't boop the trilobites!"

xkcd bot

title text: They tried to report me to the authorities, but because I had the device they couldn't charge me.

(xkcd.com/2817)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

They tried to report me to the authorities, but because I had the device they couldn't charge me.
xkcd bot

title text: FYI: The 'drop, cover, and hold on' advice only applies to earthquakes. If you encounter a mountain lion, you should absolutely not drop to the ground, crawl under it, and hold on to one of its legs.

(xkcd.com/2813)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

FYI: The 'drop, cover, and hold on' advice only applies to earthquakes. If you encounter a mountain lion, you should absolutely not drop to the ground, crawl under it, and hold on to one of its legs.
xkcd bot

title text: Getting the utility people to run transmission lines to Earth is expensive, but it will pay for itself in no time.

(xkcd.com/2812)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

Getting the utility people to run transmission lines to Earth is expensive, but it will pay for itself in no time.
Show previous comments
Geoff Coffey

@xkcdbot This is called a Dyson Cap.

Sam Levine

@xkcdbot Single panel comic.
Option A: a solar panel 1 meter square on a house's roof labeled south facing. Math underneath: $0.20 per kWh times 4 kWh per meter square per day times 1 meter square times 20% equals $58 per year

Option B: the same solar panel on the surface of the sun labeled downward. Math underneath: $0.20 per kWh times sun luminosity divided by the sun area times 1 meter square times 20% equals $22 million per year

#AltText 1/2

Colin Payne

@xkcdbot It is important to rememeber that every 19 months you will have to disconnect he cables to your solar panels to let Venus go past.

xkcd bot

title text: The increasing number of graham crackers and chocolate bars in orbit has created a growing risk of Kessler s'mores.

(xkcd.com/2804)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

The increasing number of graham crackers and chocolate bars in orbit has created a growing risk of Kessler s'mores.
Sam Levine

@xkcdbot 5 panel comic. Note: comic is reverse of the usual, the background is black and the drawings and text are white.

1. Two figures walking at a distance. Fig 1 says "So where is this spot. Fig 2 replies "It's just up ahead"

2. Zoom in on the figures. Fig 2 says "You know, fireflies don't have to exist."

xkcd bot

title text: When I began trying to form a new claim by stitching together these parts in such an unnatural way, some called me mad.

(xkcd.com/2799)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

When I began trying to form a new claim by stitching together these parts in such an unnatural way, some called me mad.
Show previous comments
wakame

@xkcdbot
Frankenstein is rather relatable.
I also look at my projects and then get sick for several months.

Jorge

@xkcdbot The doctor is Viktor Frankestein, and the monster is legally his child, so he has the same surname: Adam Frankenstein

Jordyn (Pi/Pem)

@xkcdbot the doctor is Victor Frankenstein, the monster is Frankenstein Frankenstein

xkcd bot

title text: Slowly progressing from 'how do protons behave in relativistic collisions?' to 'what the heck are protons even doing when they're just sitting there?'

(xkcd.com/2797)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php)

Slowly progressing from 'how do protons behave in relativistic collisions?' to 'what the heck are protons even doing when they're just sitting there?'
Ben Allen

@xkcdbot best description of actual math research I've seen

Sam Levine

@xkcdbot Three panel comic.

1. No hair sitting in front of a laptop. Pony tail is standing behind them. No hair says "When I started this morning there were a few edge cases I was confused about.

2. Zoom in on no hair, who says "But now, after a full day of research,"

3. Zoom back out to both figures. No hair says "I'm confused about all the regular cases too."
Pony tail says "Ah, actual progress."

#AltText

xkcd bot

title text: With most labs, the hushed horror stories are about something like dimethylmercury or prions, but occasionally you'll get a weird lab where it's about the soda machine or the drop ceiling.

(xkcd.com/2638)
(explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php
)

With most labs, the hushed horror stories are about something like dimethylmercury or prions, but occasionally you'll get a weird lab where it's about the soda machine or the drop ceiling.
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