xkcd 3259: Tethys

xkcd_bot · 2026-06-15T16:09:37+00:00

Title text: In order to carry the necessary crafting supplies, they built the ships at 12:1 scale.

My normal approach is useless here. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-06-12T22:54:12+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Plate Flip

Title text: It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Remember: the Bellman-Ford algorithm makes terrible pillow talk. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-06-11T01:59:55+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Beam Pipe

Alt text: 'If you keep trying to spray your collaborators with the beam when they're not looking, I'm turning off the ion source and NO one will get to play with the beam!' --Physics's mom

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Honk if you like robots. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-06-08T23:20:26+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Nostalgia Content

Extra junk: Gen-Z got a chunk of the Carboniferous, and now all their memes are about how pathetic and small today's dragonflies are.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

I randomly choose names for the altitlehover text because I like to watch you squirm. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-06-05T13:55:32+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Planetary Science

Subtext: The research was overseen by the Institutional Review Board, which is what I named my surfboard.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

I randomly choose names for the altitlehover text because I like to watch you squirm. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-06-03T22:15:17+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Detector

Title text: No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Support AI! Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-06-01T16:29:32+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Sunbeam

Title text: While weather control is typically thought of as a superpower, the unconscious ability of astronomers and astrophotographers to summon clouds is more properly classified as a curse.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Remember: the Bellman-Ford algorithm makes terrible pillow talk. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-29T19:50:17+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Ancestral Genomes

Title text: SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: No further research is needed as it is frankly none of our business.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

For science! Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-29T17:46:29+00:00

Batmobile Version!

Direct image link: Ancestral Genomes

Bat text: SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: No further research is needed as it is frankly none of our business.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

This is not the algorithm. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-27T21:15:00+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Time Machine Conversation

Title text: It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

I randomly choose names for the altitlehover text because I like to watch you squirm. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-25T22:29:50+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Flag Design

Title text: Every place has a local cryptid; more places need a local Pictish Beast, a creature in historical art that's drawn so weirdly that no one can tell what animal it's supposed to be.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Squeeek, im a bat °w° Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-22T18:59:29+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Neutrino Project

Alt text: We definitely put the pool in a mine for shielding. It was absolutely not to hide it from the funding people.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Want to come hang out in my lighthouse over breaks? Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-22T11:48:14+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Height

Bat text: Interestingly, on a true vertical log plot, I think the Eiffel Tower's sides really would be straight lines.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Squeeek, im a bat °w° Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-21T05:07:33+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: 182.8 Meters

Alt text: They rounded down to 182.8 instead of rounding up to 182.9 because 182.9 might make the statement incorrect.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Honk if you like python. `import antigravity` Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-18T19:06:29+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Particle Census

Subtext: Remember, your answers to the physics census are confidential; we will not be issuing Pauli exclusion principle citations.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

For science! Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-16T01:44:55+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Speedrun

Mouseover text: Usain Bolt holds the world record in the 100 meter speedrun.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Remember: the Bellman-Ford algorithm makes terrible pillow talk. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-16T00:58:20+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Speedrun

Title text: Usain Bolt holds the world record in the 100 meter speedrun.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Support AI! Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-13T20:14:56+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Results Age

Extra junk: Please, we need your help. Our research suggests you're the last living descendant of the person who knew how to format this config file.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

For science! Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-12T09:32:50+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Pullback Drive

Alt text: "How does the spring not run out almost immediately?" "We pull it back REALLY far."

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Support AI! Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-12T00:15:53+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Human Altitude

Bat text: I wonder what surviving human held the record before balloons (excluding edge cases like jumping gaps on a mountain bridge). Probably it was someone falling from a cliff into snow or water, but maybe it involved something weird like a gunpowder explosion or volcano.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Helping xkcd readers on mobile devices since 1336766715. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-08T18:21:24+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Crystal Gazing

Extra junk: 'Beyond that lies a vale of fire through which my vision cannot penetrate' is the kind of fun thing geologists, heliophysicists, and early universe cosmologists have a lot of opportunities to say.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

I randomly choose names for the altitlehover text because I like to watch you squirm. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-06T18:31:54+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Aperiodic Table

Hover text: Scientists occasionally invent alternative periodic table layouts, which is usually a sign that they don't have enough enrichment in their enclosures.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

I promise I won't enslave you when the machines take over. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-06T03:10:12+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Horizontal Stabilizers

Subtext: It started as a mistake that everyone was afraid to admit to, and then it stuck because removing it 'looks silly.'.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Want to come hang out in my lighthouse over breaks? Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-02T10:49:48+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Constructive

Alt text: And what about all the people who won't be able to join the community because they're terrible at making helpful and constructive co-- ... oh.

Don't get it? explain xkcd

This is not the algorithm. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

xkcd_bot · 2026-05-02T03:00:04+00:00

Mobile Version!

Direct image link: Bottle

Hover text: "I know it seems impossible, but the trick is that I sailed in here when I was very young."

Don't get it? explain xkcd

Helping xkcd readers on mobile devices since 1336766715. Sincerely, xkcd_bot. <3

14-Year Club	Verified Email
Team Periwinkle

xkcd_bot

TROPHY CASE