XKCD/3192: Planetary Alignment
We're going to need to modify the surface to mount it on the test stand. Which ocean basin do you like the least?
XKCD/3191: Superstition
It's important to teach yourself to feel responsible for random events, because with great responsibility comes great power. That's what my wise Uncle Ben told me right before he died; he might still be alive today if only I'd said rabbit rabbit that year!
XKCD/3190: Tensegrity
Some people argue that the tension and compression in the human skeleton is technically tensegrity, but it's missing the defining characteristic: making people say 'wtf, how is that thing floating?' when they see it.
XKCD/3189: Conic Sections
They're not generally used for crewed spacecraft because astronauts HATE going around the corners.
XKCD/3188: Anyone Else Here
Anyone else watching this Youtube video in 1954? If so, my last trip definitely messed with the timeline.
XKCD/3187: High Altitude Cooking Instructions
1,300,000-1,400,000 ft: Ask a crew member to show you how to use the ISS food warmer.
XKCD/3186: Truly Universal Outlet
Building Inspectors HATE This One Weird Trick
XKCD/3184: Funny Numbers
In 1899, people were walking around shouting '23' at each other and laughing, and confused reporters were writing articles trying to figure out what it meant.
XKCD/3183: Pole Vault Pole
My goal in life is to be personally responsible for at least one sports rule change.
XKCD/3182: Telescope Types
I'm trying to buy a gravitational lens for my camera, but I can't tell if the manufacturers are listing comoving focal length or proper focal length.
XKCD/3181: Jumping Frog Radius
Earth's r_jf is approximately 1.5 light-days, leading to general relativity's successful prediction that all the frogs in the Solar System should be found collected on the surface of the Earth.
XKCD/3180: Apples
The experimental math department's budget is under scrutiny for how much they've been spending on trains leaving Chicago at 9:00pm traveling at 45 mph.
XKCD/3179: Fishing
'That's definitely above the catch-and-release size minimum for planetesimals.' 'I'm going to throw it back anyway.'
XKCD/3178: Hyperacute Interdynamics
Our models fall apart where the three theories overlap; we're unable to predict what happens when a nanometer-sized squirrel eats a grapefruit with the mass of the sun.
XKCD/3177: Chessboard Alignment
Luckily, the range is limited by the fact that the square boundary lines follow great circles.
XKCD/3176: Inverted Catenaries
Some tires are marketed as 'all-shape tires,' but if driven in a climate with both inverted catenary falls and triangle falls, they wear out really fast.
XKCD/3175: Website Task Flowchart
Tired of waiting on hold? Use our website to chat with one of our live agents, who are available to produce words at you 24/7!
XKCD/3174: Bridge Clearance
A lot of the highway department's budget goes to adjusting the sign whenever the moon passes directly overhead.
XKCD/3173: Satellite Imagery
Every weekend I take an ATV out into the desert and spend a day tracing a faint "(C) GOOGLE 2009" watermark across the landscape.
XKCD/3170: Service Outage
Now, if it were the *Canon* wiki, it's possible to imagine someone with a productivity-related reason for consulting it, but no one's job requires them to read that much about Admiral Daala.
XKCD/3080: Tennis Balls
After initial tests created a series of large holes in the wall of the lab, the higher-power Scanning Tunneling Tennis Ball Microscope project was quickly shut down.
XKCD/3059: Water Damage
Your homeowner's insurance might cover it, but be sure to check the subductible.
XKCD/3053: KM3NeT
Unfortunately, KM3NeT led to the discovery of the Pauli anglerfish, which emits Cherenkov radiation to prey on neutrino researchers.
XKCD/3047: Rotary Tool
It was great until my thumb slipped and I accidentally launched my telescope into the air at Mach 8.
XKCD/3046: Stromatolites
If 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.
