Questions tagged [xkcd]
used for questions which directly refer to or are inspired by XKCD or related material.
11
questions
12
votes
2
answers
571
views
Very short story - passengers on faster-than-light ship watch old broadcasts of the Howdy Doody show
This xkcd "What If?" reminded me of a short story I read, maybe in a compilation of Golden Age SF stories by the likes of Henry Kuttner and Fritz Leiber. It was just a few pages long. A group of ...
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
In the movie Contact, why would Hadden live on an airplane or space station?
In the movie Contact, the billionaire owner of Hadden industries lives on an airplane that is almost always airborne. He later moves to the Russian space station, Mir, saying the low gravity and low ...
216
votes
7
answers
37k
views
Why did C.S. Lewis use Turkish Delight as temptation for Edmund?
As today's xkcd so neatly puts it, The Chronicles of Narnia gives a really unrealistic impression of how good Turkish Delight tastes:
Have some Turkish delight. If you betray your family, there's ...
15
votes
1
answer
790
views
Story where letter writers are won over by a telepath
This was in a sci-fi collection, pre-1990 and probably Asimov-era.
Told as a series of letters of the form "we've encountered the aliens and they might be shapeshifting telepaths. I'm putting the ...
33
votes
3
answers
2k
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Is BB-8 based on xkcd 413, "New Pet"?
OK, OK, so that title's a bit provocative, but take a look at xkcd #413, and tell me you don't immediately think "Randall Munroe invented BB-8 before BB-8 was invented!"
(Note that this comic is from ...
16
votes
2
answers
16k
views
What is the biggest display of power through the Force in Star Wars?
I just read today's xkcd "what if" episode How much Force power can Yoda output?.
In there, it is said that the biggest display of Force power is made by Yoda when he lifts the X-Wing out of the ...
20
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Do falcons, the birds, exist in the Star Wars universe? [duplicate]
Inspired by this comic from XKCD:
Is there anything to confirm whether or not falcons exist in the Star Wars Universe? If they don't then what is the in-universe reason for the name of the Millennium ...
33
votes
6
answers
56k
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How did Superman turn back time in the first movie?
In this what-if xkcd there is this question and answer about Superman:
In the first Superman movie, Superman flies around Earth so fast that it begins turning in the opposite direction. This ...
21
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Does warp drive permit safe, near- or above- lightspeed travel through atmospheres?
As XKCD recently educated some of us in a "What If" blog post, playing (near) light-speed baseball on a planet with an atmosphere is generally a bad idea.
The TL;DR version translates to: A baseball ...
-1
votes
1
answer
136
views
Why is the venomousness of the inland taipan evaluated? [closed]
In XKCD 761, the venomousness of the inland taipan is mentioned by Hairy.
In real life, the inland taipan only occurs in semi-arid areas in Australia, plus a variety of zoos world-wide.
...
23
votes
1
answer
2k
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Who are Darmok and Jalad and what is Kalenda's?
Would someone be kind enough to explain me this joke?
xkcd 902