imgs.xkcd.com

Catoblepas , to xkcd in xkcd #2945: Broken Model

The world as General Woundwort imagined it.

satanmat ,

Oooo deep cut. Nice.

Catoblepas ,

I wasn’t trying to say anything cutting, just a Watership Down reference 🐰

satanmat ,

Sorry yeah.

Like a deep cut on an album…

Yeah you’re good. It was a great call back

Catoblepas ,

lol my bad, that’s not a phrase I run into a lot anymore!

disguy_ovahea , to xkcd in xkcd #2945: Broken Model
randomaccount43543 OP , to xkcd in xkcd #2945: Broken Model
Tudsamfa , to xkcd in xkcd #2944: Magnet Fishing

I'd totally be up to magnet fish, but our bomb disposal department finds enough explosives from ww2 as is. Though I could use a pair of rusty bolt cutters used in some crime, as shown on the Wikipedia article ...

hakunawazo , to xkcd in xkcd #2944: Magnet Fishing

They just can't catch magnetic fish like in the old days anymore. Damn micro-plastic.

Bakkoda ,
@Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works avatar

We want heavy metals! We want heavy metals!

FlyingSquid , to xkcd in xkcd #2944: Magnet Fishing
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

What the fuck?

Magnet fishing, also called magnetic fishing, is searching in outdoor waters for ferromagnetic objects available to pull with a strong neodymium magnet.[1] Recovered items may be dangerous, such as firearms, ammunition, and bombs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_fishing

Why would anyone do this?

pacmondo ,

You could find a cool scooter! Or some coins!

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Only ferromagnetic coins which... does anyone use those?

pacmondo ,

Most of Canada's small coins respond to magnets. Not sure about other countries.

Edit: Or even better, old ferromagnetic coins or forgotten tools from past ages if you're in areas of the old world

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Interesting! TIL! Thanks.

BassaForte ,
@BassaForte@lemmy.world avatar

Think using a metal detector on a beach, but better... Who wouldn't want to do this?

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I'm not getting the 'better' part. You're much more stationary and whatever you pull up will be coated with muck and slime and, as what I pasted said, it might also seriously hurt or even kill you.

I'd say finding a bomb on a beach that no one has discovered yet is less likely than finding one in a river.

BassaForte ,
@BassaForte@lemmy.world avatar

From my other comment:

So at best, you find something rare and valuable, and at worst, you're removing trash from the waterways. What's not to love?

Also finding an active bomb anywhere is extremely rare... Not even possible enough to worry about.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

At worst, you're blown into a bunch of little bloody pieces.

But removing trash from the waterways I can get behind.

BassaForte ,
@BassaForte@lemmy.world avatar

There isn't even one instance of an active bomb exploding... And magnet fishing is a pretty common thing. Plus generally people will call the police if they find something potentially dangerous or used in a crime. It's probably fine.

Liz ,

I remember watching a video where some people pulled a landmine out of a river and the cops were so annoyed to have to deal with it. Apparently this wasn't the first explosive that's come up out of that river and the cops basically blamed the people for pulling out another one.

Toribor ,
@Toribor@corndog.social avatar

Goblin brain likes little trinkets made of metal. Goblin brain demands I find them, keep them, anything to distract from the void.

may be dangerous, such as firearms, ammunition, and bombs.

Also goblin brain not always best decision maker.

DragonTypeWyvern ,

Tbf to the goblin brain, the likely danger from those objects is tetanus

Agent641 ,

I have severe goblin brain. Must collect metals.

kandoh ,

Because our ancestors got dopamine when they picked a berry and that increased their odds of survival

elxeno ,
AeonFelis ,

Humans. Go figure.

BobbyNevada , to xkcd in xkcd #2944: Magnet Fishing

I like the idea of magnet fishing, but it seems like you just pick up metal trash.

Dagnet ,

Once I went magnet fishing in a grate near my school's cafeteria, managed to get a lot of coins which felt like being rich as a kid

Agent641 ,

Y'all have magnetic coins?

Dagnet ,

Yep, my bluetooth earbuds charging case gets some coins stuck on it every time I place change in my pocket

BassaForte ,
@BassaForte@lemmy.world avatar

So at best, you find something rare and valuable, and at worst, you're removing trash from the waterways. What's not to love?

Deebster ,
@Deebster@programming.dev avatar

But occasionally you find $100000.

samus12345 , to xkcd in xkcd #2944: Magnet Fishing
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

Very Far Side.

RustyNova , to xkcd in xkcd #2944: Magnet Fishing

Sad we don't see more of it, but it just didn't catch on.

At the same time the industry does a lot of bait and switch, so I understand

randomaccount43543 OP , to xkcd in xkcd #2944: Magnet Fishing
davidgro ,

Nice. I actually missed a couple of the puns.

ChickenLadyLovesLife , to xkcd in xkcd #2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems

It stands for "piled".

p5yk0t1km1r4ge , to xkcd in xkcd #2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems
@p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world avatar

It stands for peeps mcgoo

RememberTheEnding , to xkcd in xkcd #2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems

I assumed it was rho (ρ) of hydrogen since rho is used for density...

overload , to xkcd in xkcd #2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems

Isn't it Potential of Hydrogen?

Dagwood222 ,

That's what I was taught back in 6th Grade.

callcc ,

Same for me

Dagwood222 ,

The funny thing is that I intellectually knew that there were plenty of non-English speaking scientists, but that knowledge was never considered.

overload ,

For what it's worth, my job is as an analytical chemist, dealing with pH readings every single day, and I've always thought this was correct.

Dagwood222 ,

Are We Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

assassin_aragorn ,

Something like that. It's an incredibly weird term.

Puttaneska , (edited ) to xkcd in xkcd #2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems

They told me at school that ‘p’ meant ‘negative log’. So ‘pH’ means ‘the negative log of the concentration of Hydrogen ions in moles/litre’.

pH 1 is 1 x 10^-1^ (strong acid)

pH 7 is 1 x 10^-7^ (neutral)

pH 14 is 1 x 10^-14^ (alkaline)

(Chemistry was a long time ago, though)

Speculater , (edited )

The xkcd breaks it down for us, basically we don't know because the person who coined the term never specified what it was. It's either: puissance, potens, or potenz. Which means potency in French, Dutch Danish and German, the three languages the scientists published in.

Dagwood222 ,

I was taught it meant 'potential' but that was 6th Grade in the US, so I guess it was all a lie.

Bumblefumble ,

Dutch and Danish are not the same language. So yeah, the Danish scientist published in Danish, not Dutch.

Speculater ,

Oh shit, my bad lol.

nodiet ,

Can the term potency also be used to refer to the exponent in English? Because that is what is meant by the terms in the other languages and I haven't come across that usage of the word potency in English

Speculater ,

I think that's accurate, the exponent is what it's referring to, but the pedantic types are worried about what the p literally means.

Puttaneska ,

Thank you. I think the decades-old chemistry-class flashback distracted me from thoroughly absorbing the full post!

Wizard_Pope ,
@Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world avatar

You're missing a 4 in the alkaline line

Puttaneska ,

Thank you (4 now added!)

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