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XKCD QA (What If?): Tungsten Countertop
Tungsten CountertopHow far would a tungsten countertop descend if I dropped it into the Sun?Michael LeuchtenbergNot very far.With its high melting point, tungsten is a good[1]Except that the word...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Great Tree, Great Axe
Great Tree, Great AxeIf all the seas were one sea,What a great sea that would be!If all the trees were one tree,What a great tree that would be!If all the men were one man,What a great man that would...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Faucet Power
Faucet PowerI just moved into a new apartment. It includes hot water but I have to pay the electric bill. So being a person on a budget ... what's the best way to use my free faucet to generate...
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XKCD QA (What If?): One-Second Day
One-Second DayWhat would happen if the Earth's rotation were sped up until a day only lasted one second?—DylanIf this is going to happen, I hope it doesn't happen late in the afternoon next Friday.The...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Windshield Raindrops
Windshield RaindropsAt what speed would you have to drive for rain to shatter your windshield?Daniel ButlerFast.Raindrops are tiny. Even in the heaviest rainstorms, the water in the air weighs less...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Billion-Story Building
Billion-Story BuildingMy daughter—age 4.5—maintains she wants a billion-story building. It turns out not only is that hard to help her appreciate this size, I am not at all able to explain all of the...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Pyramid Energy
Pyramid EnergyWhat took more energy, the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza or the Apollo Mission? If we could convert the energy to build the Great Pyramid, would it be enough to send a rocket to...
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XKCD QA (What If?): $2 Undecillion Lawsuit
$2 Undecillion LawsuitWhat if Au Bon Pain lost this lawsuit and had to pay the plaintiff $2 undecillion?—Kevin UnderhillThe bakery-cafe chain Au Bon Pain (with a few other organizations) is being sued....
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XKCD QA (What If?): Burning Pollen
Burning PollenWhat if you were to somehow ignite the pollen that floats around in the air in spring? Other than being a really bad idea, what effect would it have?Jessica ThornburgThe first thing we...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Blood Alcohol
Blood AlcoholCould you get drunk from drinking a drunk person's blood?Fiona ByrneYou would have to drink a lot of blood.A person contains about 5 liters of blood, or 14 glasses.If your blood is more...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Starlings
StarlingsI was watching this video and was wondering: How many birds there would need to be for gravity to take over and force them into a gargantuan ball of birds?—Justin BasingerThe video shows...
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XKCD QA (What If?): WWII Films
WWII FilmsDid WWII last longer than the total length of movies about WWII? For that matter, which war has the highest movie time:war time ratio?—BeckyWorld War II was longer than the movies about it.To...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Plastic Dinosaurs
Plastic DinosaursAs plastic is made from oil and oil is made from dead dinosaurs, how much actual real dinosaur is there in a plastic dinosaur?Steve LydfordI don't know.Coal and oil are called "fossil...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Keyboard Power
Keyboard PowerAs a writer, I'm wondering what would be the cumulative energy of the hundreds of thousands of keystrokes required to write a novel.—Nicolas DicknerYou probably shouldn't invest in a...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Vanishing Water
Vanishing WaterWhat would happen if all the bodies of water on Earth magically disappeared?—Joanna XuAs is often the case with these questions, everyone would die.The first people to notice would be...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Global Snow
Global SnowFrom my seven-year-old son: How many snowflakes would it take to cover the entire world in six feet of snow? (I don't know why six feet...but that's what he asked.)—Jed ScottIt's been too...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Cannibalism
CannibalismHow long could the human race survive on only cannibalism?Quinn ShafferThere are about 500 trillion calories of human in the world. If it could be frozen or otherwise preserved, that would...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Ink Molecules
Ink MoleculesSuppose you were to print, in 12 point text, the numeral 1 using a common cheap ink-jet printer. How many molecules of the ink would be used? At what numerical value would the number...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Letter to Mom
Letter to MomWhat’s the fastest way to get a hand-written letter from my place in Chicago to my mother in New Jersey?—TimFirst, let's carefully consider the "walking" option. Who knows—maybe it's...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Expensive Shoebox
Expensive ShoeboxWhat would be the most expensive way to fill a size 11 shoebox (e.g. with 64 GB MicroSD cards all full of legally purchased music)?Rick LewisA shoebox full of valuable stuff seems to...
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