#xkcd No. 3147
Date: 2025-9-26
Title: Hiking
Alt text: Every downhill walk is a waterslide that might have been.
https://xkcd.com/3147/
xkcd
![Description:
Drones assemble a waterslide on a mountain for hikers. One hiker slides down while others watch or order the next segment on their hiking trail.
Transcript:
[The comic shows several hikers on a mountain range. Drones are delivering and assembling sections of a waterslide on a large hill.]
**Hiker climbing the hill:** OKAY, WE'RE NEARING THE NEXT DOWNHILL SEGMENT. I'LL PUT IN THE ORDER.
**Hiker climbing the hill:** ...CONFIRMING START AND END POINTS...
**Hiker climbing the hill:** SUBMITTED!
**Hiker at the top of the hill:** LOOK, HERE IT COMES!
**Voice from people on the slide:** WHEEEEE
**Caption:** ON-DEMAND WATERSLIDE DELIVERY HAS REALLY IMPROVED THE WHOLE HIKING EXPERIENCE.](/proxy/post_attachment/862655/550a8ac603.png "Description:
Drones assemble a waterslide on a mountain for hikers. One hiker slides down while others watch or order the next segment on their hiking trail.
Transcript:
[The comic shows several hikers on a mountain range. Drones are delivering and assembling sections of a waterslide on a large hill.]
**Hiker climbing the hill:** OKAY, WE'RE NEARING THE NEXT DOWNHILL SEGMENT. I'LL PUT IN THE ORDER.
**Hiker climbing the hill:** ...CONFIRMING START AND END POINTS...
**Hiker climbing the hill:** SUBMITTED!
**Hiker at the top of the hill:** LOOK, HERE IT COMES!
**Voice from people on the slide:** WHEEEEE
**Caption:** ON-DEMAND WATERSLIDE DELIVERY HAS REALLY IMPROVED THE WHOLE HIKING EXPERIENCE.")
#xkcd No. 3155
Date: 2025-10-15
Title: Physics Paths
Alt text: If nothing else, that reasoning definitely overturns syllogisms.
https://xkcd.com/3155/
![Description:
A flowchart comic. A stick figure's thought process leads to a crossroads, with arrows pointing to a final "healthy path" and "path of ruin."
Transcript:
Panel 1:
[A stick figure stands next to the text.]
Text: EINSTEIN HAD AN INSIGHT THAT OVERTURNED PHYSICS, THUS PROVING HIS VALUE.
Panel 2:
[The stick figure stands next to the text.]
Text: I HOPE I HAVE VALUE. I'LL TRY TO HAVE AN INSIGHT THAT OVERTURNS PHYSICS, TO CHECK.
[An arrow points down to a box that reads "TIME PASSES".]
Panel 3:
[The stick figure stands with arms outstretched.]
Text: OH NO! MY INSIGHT DIDN'T OVERTURN PHYSICS! BUT I DON'T THINK I'M WORTHLESS...
[This panel branches into two lower panels. The left branch is labeled "HEALTHY PATH", and the right branch is labeled "PATH OF RUIN".]
Panel 4 (Healthy Path):
Text: MAYBE THIS WAS NOT A WELL-THOUGHT-OUT TEST OF MY VALUE.
Panel 5 (Path of Ruin):
Text: THE ESTABLISHMENT MUST BE SUPPRESSING MY INSIGHT](/proxy/post_attachment/879775/be278eb7b8.png "Description:
A flowchart comic. A stick figure's thought process leads to a crossroads, with arrows pointing to a final \"healthy path\" and \"path of ruin.\"
Transcript:
Panel 1:
[A stick figure stands next to the text.]
Text: EINSTEIN HAD AN INSIGHT THAT OVERTURNED PHYSICS, THUS PROVING HIS VALUE.
Panel 2:
[The stick figure stands next to the text.]
Text: I HOPE I HAVE VALUE. I'LL TRY TO HAVE AN INSIGHT THAT OVERTURNS PHYSICS, TO CHECK.
[An arrow points down to a box that reads \"TIME PASSES\".]
Panel 3:
[The stick figure stands with arms outstretched.]
Text: OH NO! MY INSIGHT DIDN'T OVERTURN PHYSICS! BUT I DON'T THINK I'M WORTHLESS...
[This panel branches into two lower panels. The left branch is labeled \"HEALTHY PATH\", and the right branch is labeled \"PATH OF RUIN\".]
Panel 4 (Healthy Path):
Text: MAYBE THIS WAS NOT A WELL-THOUGHT-OUT TEST OF MY VALUE.
Panel 5 (Path of Ruin):
Text: THE ESTABLISHMENT MUST BE SUPPRESSING MY INSIGHT")
#xkcd No. 3146
Date: 2025-9-24
Title: Fantastic Four
Alt text: One perk of being born at 0.88c is that your birthday is over two days long.
https://xkcd.com/3146/
#xkcd No. 2921
Date: 2024-4-18
Title: Eclipse Path Maps
Alt text: Okay, this eclipse will only be visible from the Arctic in February 2063, when the sun is below the horizon, BUT if we get lucky and a gigantic chasm opens in the Earth in just the right spot...
https://xkcd.com/2921/
#xkcd No. 3148
Date: 2025-9-29
Title: 100% All Achievements
Alt text: I'm trying to share my footage of the full run to prove it's not tool-assisted, but the uploader has problems with video lengths of more than a decade.
https://xkcd.com/3148/
![Description:
Cueball complains to another stick figure wearing a white hat.
Transcript:
[In a single panel, one stick figure (Cueball) is speaking to another who wears a hat.]
Cueball: I FINISHED ALL THE GEN-ED BACK IN 2010, AND I'M UP TO THE 400-LEVEL COURSES IN MOST DEPARTMENTS. BUT NOW ONE OF MY ADVISORS IS SAYING I "CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN 20 MAJORS" AND "NEED TO GRADUATE NEXT YEAR." IT'S OUTRAGEOUS!
[Caption below the panel]
MY UNIVERSITY IS MAKING IT REALLY HARD TO FINISH A 100% ALL ACHIEVEMENTS SPEEDRUN.](/proxy/post_attachment/865911/6132f6fae7.png "Description:
Cueball complains to another stick figure wearing a white hat.
Transcript:
[In a single panel, one stick figure (Cueball) is speaking to another who wears a hat.]
Cueball: I FINISHED ALL THE GEN-ED BACK IN 2010, AND I'M UP TO THE 400-LEVEL COURSES IN MOST DEPARTMENTS. BUT NOW ONE OF MY ADVISORS IS SAYING I \"CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN 20 MAJORS\" AND \"NEED TO GRADUATE NEXT YEAR.\" IT'S OUTRAGEOUS!
[Caption below the panel]
MY UNIVERSITY IS MAKING IT REALLY HARD TO FINISH A 100% ALL ACHIEVEMENTS SPEEDRUN.")
#xkcd No. 2925
Date: 2024-4-26
Title: Earth Formation Site
Alt text: It's not far from the sign marking the exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core.
https://xkcd.com/2925/
#xkcd No. 2924
Date: 2024-4-24
Title: Pendulum Types
Alt text: The creepy fingers that grow from a vibrating cornstarch-water mix can be modeled as a chain of inverted vertical pendulums (DOI:10.1039/c4sm00265b) and are believed to be the fingers of Maxwell's Demon trying to push through into our universe.
https://xkcd.com/2924/
#xkcd No. 2926
Date: 2024-4-29
Title: Doppler Effect
Alt text: The Doppler effect is a mysterious wavelength-shifting phenomenon which seems to primarily affect sirens, which is why the 🚨 emoji is red.
https://xkcd.com/2926/
#xkcd No. 3156
Date: 2025-10-17
Title: Planetary Rings
Alt text: If you don't know where you are on Earth, the angle of satellite dishes can help constrain your latitude. If some of them are pointing straight up, you're probably near the Equator, right under the ring.
https://xkcd.com/3156/
![Description:
A checklist of planets is next to a drawing of Earth. Earth is shown with a ring of dots around its equator, and an arrow points to the ring.
Transcript:
[A checklist is titled "PLANET RINGS?"]
MERCURY [Unchecked box]
VENUS [Unchecked box]
EARTH [A red checkmark in the box]
MARS [Unchecked box]
JUPITER [Checked box]
SATURN [Checked box]
URANUS [Checked box]
NEPTUNE [Checked box]
[To the right of the list, an arrow points to a ring of satellites around a drawing of Earth.]
Label: GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE BELT
[Caption below the panel]
ASTRONOMY FACT: A CENTURY AGO, EARTH DIDN'T HAVE RINGS, BUT WE HAVE ONE NOW! IT'S WHERE ALL THE SATELLITE DISHES ARE POINTED.](/proxy/post_attachment/881049/78ff681128.png "Description:
A checklist of planets is next to a drawing of Earth. Earth is shown with a ring of dots around its equator, and an arrow points to the ring.
Transcript:
[A checklist is titled \"PLANET RINGS?\"]
MERCURY [Unchecked box]
VENUS [Unchecked box]
EARTH [A red checkmark in the box]
MARS [Unchecked box]
JUPITER [Checked box]
SATURN [Checked box]
URANUS [Checked box]
NEPTUNE [Checked box]
[To the right of the list, an arrow points to a ring of satellites around a drawing of Earth.]
Label: GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE BELT
[Caption below the panel]
ASTRONOMY FACT: A CENTURY AGO, EARTH DIDN'T HAVE RINGS, BUT WE HAVE ONE NOW! IT'S WHERE ALL THE SATELLITE DISHES ARE POINTED.")
#xkcd No. 3149
Date: 2025-10-1
Title: Measure Twice, Cut Once
Alt text: "Measure zero times, cut zero times." --carpenter who has achieved enlightenment and realized the wood is fine where it is
https://xkcd.com/3149/
![Description:
A graph plotting professions based on "Number of Measurements" (y-axis) versus "Number of Cuts" (x-axis), referencing a carpentry proverb.
Transcript:
[Caption above the graph]
"MEASURE [in a box] TWICE, CUT [in a box] ONCE"
- CARPENTRY PROVERB
[A graph is shown. The vertical Y-axis is labeled "NUMBER OF MEASUREMENTS". The horizontal X-axis is labeled "NUMBER OF CUTS". Several points are plotted on the graph with the following labels:]
SURVEYOR: High on the Y-axis (many measurements), low on the X-axis (few cuts).
SURGEON: Below Surveyor.
GOOD CARPENTER: Below Surgeon.
CARELESS CARPENTER: Below Good Carpenter.
REALLY BAD CARPENTER: To the right of Careless Carpenter, with more cuts.
SERIAL KILLER: Low on the Y-axis (few measurements) and far to the right on the X-axis (many cuts).](/proxy/post_attachment/867354/3054fad094.png "Description:
A graph plotting professions based on \"Number of Measurements\" (y-axis) versus \"Number of Cuts\" (x-axis), referencing a carpentry proverb.
Transcript:
[Caption above the graph]
\"MEASURE [in a box] TWICE, CUT [in a box] ONCE\"
- CARPENTRY PROVERB
[A graph is shown. The vertical Y-axis is labeled \"NUMBER OF MEASUREMENTS\". The horizontal X-axis is labeled \"NUMBER OF CUTS\". Several points are plotted on the graph with the following labels:]
SURVEYOR: High on the Y-axis (many measurements), low on the X-axis (few cuts).
SURGEON: Below Surveyor.
GOOD CARPENTER: Below Surgeon.
CARELESS CARPENTER: Below Good Carpenter.
REALLY BAD CARPENTER: To the right of Careless Carpenter, with more cuts.
SERIAL KILLER: Low on the Y-axis (few measurements) and far to the right on the X-axis (many cuts).")
#xkcd No. 3150
Date: 2025-10-3
Title: Ping
Alt text: Progress on getting shipwrecked sailors to adopt ICMPv6 has been slow.
https://xkcd.com/3150/
![Description:
A stick figure on a beach finds a message in a bottle, reads it, writes a reply, and throws the bottle back into the ocean.
Transcript:
Panel 1: [A stick figure stands on a beach, looking at a bottle that has washed ashore.]
Panel 2: [The stick figure holds the bottle and a piece of paper from inside. Above him is text.]
Text: ICMP ECHO REQUEST
[Squiggly lines represent the body of the message.]
Panel 3: [The figure writes on the paper. The bottle is on the ground. New text appears above him.]
Text: ICMP ECHO REPLY
[Squiggly lines represent the body of the message.]
Panel 4: [The stick figure stands on the shore, watching the bottle float away in the water.]](/proxy/post_attachment/868779/31bddb86bb.png "Description:
A stick figure on a beach finds a message in a bottle, reads it, writes a reply, and throws the bottle back into the ocean.
Transcript:
Panel 1: [A stick figure stands on a beach, looking at a bottle that has washed ashore.]
Panel 2: [The stick figure holds the bottle and a piece of paper from inside. Above him is text.]
Text: ICMP ECHO REQUEST
[Squiggly lines represent the body of the message.]
Panel 3: [The figure writes on the paper. The bottle is on the ground. New text appears above him.]
Text: ICMP ECHO REPLY
[Squiggly lines represent the body of the message.]
Panel 4: [The stick figure stands on the shore, watching the bottle float away in the water.]")
#xkcd No. 2930
Date: 2024-5-8
Title: Google Solar Cycle
Alt text: From Google Trends, it looks like the lag between people Googling cocktail recipes and 'hangover cure' is 14 hours.
https://xkcd.com/2930/
#xkcd No. 2933
Date: 2024-5-15
Title: Elementary Physics Paths
Alt text: ==COSMOLOGY==> 'Uhhh ... how sure are we that everything is made of these?'
https://xkcd.com/2933/
#xkcd No. 2931
Date: 2024-5-10
Title: Chasing
Alt text: Certain hybrid events can only happen in certain locations where all the conditions are present; chasers flock to the area in and around Kansas known as tumbleweed-colliding-with-possum alley.
https://xkcd.com/2931/
#xkcd No. 2929
Date: 2024-5-6
Title: Good and Bad Ideas
Alt text: While it seemed like a fun prank at the time, I realize my prank fire extinguishers full of leaded gasoline were a mistake.
https://xkcd.com/2929/
#xkcd No. 2932
Date: 2024-5-13
Title: Driving PSA
Alt text: This PSA brought to you by several would-be assassins who tried to wave me in front of speeding cars in the last month and who will have to try harder next time.
https://xkcd.com/2932/
#xkcd No. 3151
Date: 2025-10-6
Title: Window Screen
Alt text: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or Home Improvement or DIY
https://xkcd.com/3151/
![Description:
A stick figure looks at a complex window, studies diagrams, builds a perfect screen for it, and then sits at a desk typing on a laptop.
Transcript:
Panel 1:
[Narration] THIS WEEKEND, I HAD TO MAKE AN OVERSIZED SCREEN FOR A PORCH WINDOW.
[A stick figure stands inside, looking out a large, oddly-shaped window at a sunny landscape.]
Panel 2:
[Narration] IT INVOLVED COUNTLESS TINY PROBLEMS, EACH SOMEHOW WAY HARDER THAN IT SHOULD BE. OBLIQUE ANGLES. CURVED EDGES. NONCOPLANARITY.
[The panel shows complex geometric diagrams, equations, and a small stick figure looking stressed while measuring.]
Panel 3:
[Narration] ...I SOLVED THEM ALL. I MEASURED PRECISELY. I DID TRIGONOMETRY. I MADE CUSTOM PARTS. AND IT FIT PERFECTLY. NO GAPS, NO RIPPLES.
[The completed screen sits on the floor, surrounded by tools. The stick figure stands next to it, looking proud.]
Panel 4:
[Narration from the character typing on a laptop] I KNOW THAT YOUR FOUNDATION NORMALLY LIMITS ITS PURVIEW TO PHYSICS, MEDICINE, PEACE, CHEMISTRY, AND LITERATURE. HOWEVER, IF YOU REVIEW THE ATTACHED PHOTOS SHOWING HOW WELL THE SCREEN FITS INTO THE...](/proxy/post_attachment/872511/28136cc07b.png "Description:
A stick figure looks at a complex window, studies diagrams, builds a perfect screen for it, and then sits at a desk typing on a laptop.
Transcript:
Panel 1:
[Narration] THIS WEEKEND, I HAD TO MAKE AN OVERSIZED SCREEN FOR A PORCH WINDOW.
[A stick figure stands inside, looking out a large, oddly-shaped window at a sunny landscape.]
Panel 2:
[Narration] IT INVOLVED COUNTLESS TINY PROBLEMS, EACH SOMEHOW WAY HARDER THAN IT SHOULD BE. OBLIQUE ANGLES. CURVED EDGES. NONCOPLANARITY.
[The panel shows complex geometric diagrams, equations, and a small stick figure looking stressed while measuring.]
Panel 3:
[Narration] ...I SOLVED THEM ALL. I MEASURED PRECISELY. I DID TRIGONOMETRY. I MADE CUSTOM PARTS. AND IT FIT PERFECTLY. NO GAPS, NO RIPPLES.
[The completed screen sits on the floor, surrounded by tools. The stick figure stands next to it, looking proud.]
Panel 4:
[Narration from the character typing on a laptop] I KNOW THAT YOUR FOUNDATION NORMALLY LIMITS ITS PURVIEW TO PHYSICS, MEDICINE, PEACE, CHEMISTRY, AND LITERATURE. HOWEVER, IF YOU REVIEW THE ATTACHED PHOTOS SHOWING HOW WELL THE SCREEN FITS INTO THE...")
#xkcd No. 2935
Date: 2024-5-20
Title: Ocean Loop
Alt text: I can't believe they wouldn't even let me hold a vote among the passengers about whether to try the loop.
https://xkcd.com/2935/
#xkcd No. 3152
Date: 2025-10-8
Title: Skateboard
Alt text: I understand it's hard to do more than 300 feet on these 90-second rush jobs, but with a smaller ramp I'm worried the gee forces will be too high for me to do any tricks.
https://xkcd.com/3152/
![Description:
A four-panel comic shows a stick figure falling through the sky, having accidentally brought skateboarding gear instead of a parachute.
Transcript:
Panel 1:
[A stick figure is falling upside down through a sky with clouds, tangled with a skateboard and a backpack.]
Stick Figure (thinking): I GUESS THIS IS ON ME. I SHOULD REALLY KEEP MY SKATEBOARDING GEAR AND MY PARACHUTES IN DIFFERENT-LOOKING BAGS.
Panel 2:
[The stick figure is now standing on the skateboard in mid-air, crouched as if about to land on a ramp, but there is only sky below.]
Panel 3:
[The figure is tumbling through the air again, holding out a phone.]
Sound effect: BEEP BEEP
Panel 4:
[Still falling, the stick figure holds the phone to his head.]
Stick Figure (on phone): HELLO, PRO SKATE PARKS LLC? I'D LIKE TO PLACE AN EXTREMELY EXPEDITED ORDER FOR A 600-FOOT HALFPIPE.](/proxy/post_attachment/873961/94503faaff.png "Description:
A four-panel comic shows a stick figure falling through the sky, having accidentally brought skateboarding gear instead of a parachute.
Transcript:
Panel 1:
[A stick figure is falling upside down through a sky with clouds, tangled with a skateboard and a backpack.]
Stick Figure (thinking): I GUESS THIS IS ON ME. I SHOULD REALLY KEEP MY SKATEBOARDING GEAR AND MY PARACHUTES IN DIFFERENT-LOOKING BAGS.
Panel 2:
[The stick figure is now standing on the skateboard in mid-air, crouched as if about to land on a ramp, but there is only sky below.]
Panel 3:
[The figure is tumbling through the air again, holding out a phone.]
Sound effect: BEEP BEEP
Panel 4:
[Still falling, the stick figure holds the phone to his head.]
Stick Figure (on phone): HELLO, PRO SKATE PARKS LLC? I'D LIKE TO PLACE AN EXTREMELY EXPEDITED ORDER FOR A 600-FOOT HALFPIPE.")
#xkcd No. 2938
Date: 2024-5-27
Title: Local Group
Alt text: Cosmologists estimate the spaghetti strand to be about 200 septillion calories, though it could be higher depending on the nutritional value of dark matter.
https://xkcd.com/2938/
#xkcd No. 3153
Date: 2025-10-10
Title: Hot Water Balloon
Alt text: Despite a reputation for safety, the temperatures and surprisingly high pressures make them even more dangerous than the air kind, but the NTSB refuses to investigate accidents because they insist there is no 'transportation' involved.
https://xkcd.com/3153/
![Description:
Megan and Cueball stand in a basket attached to a giant, sagging balloon on the ground. Another figure pushes the balloon from the other side.
Transcript:
[The comic is a single panel. A large, striped balloon is lying limp on the ground, attached to a basket where Megan and Cueball are standing. On the other side, a figure with a ponytail is pushing against the sagging balloon. The sound "BLOOP" appears twice above the balloon, which has steam lines coming off it.]
Caption below the panel: HOT WATER BALLOON RIDES TURN OUT TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS ROMANTIC THAN THE AIR KIND.](/proxy/post_attachment/875322/0d651eee38.png "Description:
Megan and Cueball stand in a basket attached to a giant, sagging balloon on the ground. Another figure pushes the balloon from the other side.
Transcript:
[The comic is a single panel. A large, striped balloon is lying limp on the ground, attached to a basket where Megan and Cueball are standing. On the other side, a figure with a ponytail is pushing against the sagging balloon. The sound \"BLOOP\" appears twice above the balloon, which has steam lines coming off it.]
Caption below the panel: HOT WATER BALLOON RIDES TURN OUT TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS ROMANTIC THAN THE AIR KIND.")
#xkcd No. 2939
Date: 2024-5-29
Title: Complexity Analysis
Alt text: PERPETUALLY OPTIMISTIC CASE: Early in the execution, our research group makes a breakthrough on proving P=NP.
https://xkcd.com/2939/
#xkcd No. 2937
Date: 2024-5-24
Title: Room Code
Alt text: Sorry to make you memorize this random string of digits. If it helps, it can also double as a mnemonic for remembering your young relatives' birthdays, if they happened to have been born on February 5th, 2018.
https://xkcd.com/2937/
#xkcd No. 2940
Date: 2024-5-31
Title: Modes of Transportation
Alt text: My bold criticism might anger the hot air balloon people, which would be a real concern if any of them lived along a very narrow line directly upwind of me.
https://xkcd.com/2940/
#xkcd No. 2947
Date: 2024-6-17
Title: Pascal's Wager Triangle
Alt text: In contrast to Pascal's Wager Triangle, Pascal's Triangle Wager argues that maybe God wants you to draw a triangle of numbers where each one is the sum of the two numbers above it, so you probably should, just in case.
https://xkcd.com/2947/
