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XKCD QA (What If?): Facebook of the Dead
Facebook of the DeadWhen, if ever, will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than of living ones?Emily DunhamEither the 2060s or the 2130s.There are not a lot of dead people on Facebook. The...
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XKCD QA (What If?): The Constant Groundskeeper
The Constant GroundskeeperHow big of a lawn would you have to have so that when you finished mowing you'd need to start over because the grass has grown?Nick NelsonAccording to the Turfgrass Extension...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Stirring Tea
Stirring TeaI was absentmindedly stirring a cup of hot tea, when I got to thinking, "aren't I actually adding kinetic energy into this cup?" I know that stirring does help to cool down the tea, but...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Loneliest Human
Loneliest HumanWhat is the furthest one human being has ever been from every other living person? Were they lonely?Bryan J. McCarterIt's hard to know for sure!The most likely suspects are the six...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Lethal Neutrinos
Lethal NeutrinosHow close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation?(Overheard in a physics department)The phrase "lethal dose of neutrino radiation" is a weird...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Soda Planet
Soda PlanetHow much of the Earth's currently-existing water has ever been turned into a soft drink at some point in its history?Brian Roelofs0.0000005%.First, a tiny bit of background: In the beverage...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Phone Keypad
Phone KeypadI use one of those old phones where you type with numbers—for example, to type "Y", you press 9 three times. Some words have consecutive letters on the same number. When they do, you have...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Reading Every Book
Reading Every BookAt what point in human history were there too many (English) books to be able to read them all in one lifetime?Gregory WillmotThis is a complicated question. Getting accurate counts...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Growth Rate
Growth RateWhat height would humans reach if we kept growing through our whole development period (i.e. till late teens/early twenties) at the same pace as we do during our first...
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XKCD QA (What If?): T-rex Calories
T-rex CaloriesIf a T-rex were released in New York City, how many humans/day would it need to consume to get its needed calorie intake?Tony SchmitzAbout half of an adult, or one ten-year old...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Lake Tea
Lake TeaWhat if we were to dump all the tea in the world into the Great Lakes? How strong, compared to a regular cup of tea, would the lake tea be?Alex BurmanWeak, bordering on homeopathic.The standard...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Pile of Viruses
Pile of VirusesWhat if every virus in the world were collected into one area? How much volume would they take up and what would they look like?DaveIt would be a huge pile, but human viruses would make...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Catch!
Catch!Is there any way to fire a gun so that the bullet flies through the air and can then be safely caught by hand? e.g. shooter is at sea level and catcher is up a mountain at the extreme range of...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Hitting a comet
Hitting a cometAstrophysicists are always saying things like "This mission to this comet is equivalent to throwing a baseball from New York and hitting a particular window in San Francisco." Are they...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Star Sand
Star SandIf you made a beach using grains the proportionate size of the stars in the Milky Way, what would that beach look like?Jeff WartesSand is interesting.[Citation needed]"Are there more grains of...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Paint the Earth
Paint the EarthHas humanity produced enough paint to cover the entire land area of the Earth?—Josh (Bolton, MA)This answer is pretty straightforward. We can look up the size of the world's paint...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Rocket Golf
Rocket GolfAssuming that you have a spaceship in orbit around the Earth, could you propel your ship to speeds exceeding escape velocity by hitting golf balls in the other direction? If so, how many...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Far-Traveling Objects
Far-Traveling ObjectsIn terms of human-made objects, has Voyager 1 travelled the farthest distance? It's certainly the farthest from Earth we know about. But what about the edge of ultracentrifuges, or...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Enforced by Radar
Enforced by RadarI've occasionally seen "radar enforced" on speed limit signs, and I can't help but ask: How intense would radio waves have to be to stop a car from going over the speed limit, and what...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Soda Sequestration
Soda SequestrationHow much CO2 is contained in the world's stock of bottled fizzy drinks? How much soda would be needed to bring atmospheric CO2 back to preindustrial levels?Brandon SeahFor most of the...
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