XKCD: It's more than a comic

I think it's pretty obvious he's refering to the Medieval procedure of bloodletting.

"After centuries of fuckin people up, we have found one niche case where it works" is not helping much. Maybe like, a couple pixels down.

Edited by Adannor on May 8th 2024 at 8:04:47 AM

Or rather, the practice of using bloodletting as a cure-all.

to be fair a lot of stuff that did work for some cases got hit with the cure all stick

only one that somewhat stuck was willow bark aka aspirin

Leeches also have a surprising number of modern use cases.

I love strips like this, that can generate discussion on twenty topics at once.

What's wrong with Transitions? I love Transitions. (I sell Transitions.) Biggest drawbacks are the time it takes to fade back to clear, which improves with every generation released—and they just came out with the latest Generation S a couple weeks ago—and that they don't work well in the car because your windshield blocks the UV light that activates them. (There is an Xtractive option that lessens drawback #2, but worsens #1 as a tradeoff.)

I have no idea what you're talking about. What are transitions?

They are a type of lens for eyewear that changes its transmission properties depending on ambient light. They get darker when it's brighter out, letting you use the same glasses outdoors as indoors.

So, it's a brand of photochromic glasses?

Are they the sunglasses that use polarized light filters?

Just to confuse things, I've also heard the term used to refer to progressive bifocals where there is no clear line, but rather they shift from nearsighted to farsighted along the surface.

They keep saying transition lenses have got better, but better is a remarkably low bar considering how bad they used to be.

(I'm assuming this is about the ones that darken in sunlight and undarken in not-sunlight)

Not strictly I think? Polarized sunglasses are everywhere, I don't know if transition lenses come in polarized, I'm not entirely sure of the mechanics.

Edited by Florien on May 8th 2024 at 5:57:39 AM

On the one hand, whoops, I did an American. On the other, Randall used the brand name in the strip, though he helpfully put a ® symbol on it.

Yes, that is the generic term. There are a couple other brands in the States, but Transitions has a lock on the market to the point that the trademark is becoming genericized.

No, is right. There is a Transitions lens that polarizes but it’s not common, it has more drawbacks.

That is a very common point of confusion when trying to discuss lens options with patients. Progressive ≠ Transitions, but a set of glasses can have both.

Well, sure. The new generation I mentioned is Transitions’ ninth, although like a software company they’ve decided to stop numbering them and are calling it Generation S for some reason.

Edited by HeraldAlberich on May 8th 2024 at 9:08:28 AM

Google has existed long enough that we can observe solar flare trends from historical search data.

Interesting how Google has inadvertently become a barometer for what is on people's minds like this.

A lot of phenomena have been reliably associated with Google search trends.

#2931: Chasing

Not exciting to chase: other chasers. Are you sure about that, Randall? We could get a circular convoy going, with each chaser following another in the expectation that they're going somewhere exciting.

I had to look up what a radiosonde is: it's a battery-powered weather instrument carried on a balloon, which is why it's juxtaposed against "regular balloons" in the grid.

I wonder who would chase speed traps but knowing people I'm sure there's someone doing it. Every now and then you get a runner and then you end up chasing a police chase, whose excitement value is certainly non-zero.

I suppose it's technically possible to chase the Grand Canyon, but it's not moving very fast so the chase would not be particularly dynamic.

Edited by Fighteer on May 10th 2024 at 12:43:38 PM

Speedtraps may not be very exciting to chase, but people do look out for and report them, which then provides info for radio stations to report on them.

I'm surprised that there no speed axis.

-sees “Aurora” on the chart-

The atmospheric phenomenon or the princess? ;P

Hey, ice cream trucks are very exciting to see in person.

Nasa responded to a comic from Randall where he proposed to flatten the solar system.

That's freakishly cool. Both that xkcd is popular at NASA (but of course it would be) and that they took his idea "seriously" enough to write up an analysis of it.

I love that they simply assume that the technology with which to accomplish the flattening is feasible, when I feel like it would be the largest deal-breaker.

They do mention that using rolling pins may take some time, though.

I like how this answer is faithful to the spirit of Randall's "What-If" books while following the structure of a proposal evaluation.

Speaking of What-If, I had no idea the books could be found in bookstores (call me old-fashioned, I like to buy a book in a shop - much easier to browse through books than online). After two trips to London I now have the full set, along with "How-To", which I had not heard about.

This observation is doing a truly prodigious amount of work.

"May require freezing of time to achieve."

That's explored in the addendum.