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XKCD QA (What If?): Proton Earth, Electron Moon
Proton Earth, Electron MoonWhat if the Earth were made entirely of protons, and the Moon were made entirely of electrons?—Noah WilliamsThis is, by far, the most destructive What-If scenario to date.You...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Sunbeam
SunbeamWhat if all of the sun's output of visible light were bundled up into a laser-like beam that had a diameter of around 1m once it reaches Earth?—Max SchäferHere's the situation Max is...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Space Jetta
Space JettaWhat if I tried to re-enter the atmosphere in my car? (a 2000 VW Jetta TDI). Would it do more environmental damage than it is already apparently doing?—Casey BergBelieve it or not, throwing...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Europa Water Siphon
Europa Water SiphonWhat if you built a siphon from the oceans on Europa to Earth? Would it flow once it's set up? (We have an idea for selling bottled Europa water.)—A group of Google Search SREsNo,...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Saliva Pool
Saliva PoolHow long would it take for a single person to fill up an entire swimming pool with their own saliva?—Mary Griffin, 9th gradeThe average kid produces about half a liter of saliva per day,...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Fire From Moonlight
Fire From MoonlightCan you use a magnifying glass and moonlight to light a fire?—Rogier SpoorAt first, this sounds like a pretty easy question.A magnifying glass concentrates light on a small spot. As...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Stop Jupiter
Stop JupiterI understand that the New Horizons craft used gravity assist from Jupiter to increase its speed on the way to Pluto. I also understand that by doing this, Jupiter slowed down very slightly....
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XKCD QA (What If?): Niagara Straw
Niagara StrawWhat would happen if one tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a straw?[1]This question was in reference to this Amazon review of gummy bears—but before you click, be warned that it...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Eat the Sun
Eat the SunWhat percentage of the Sun's heat (per day) does the population of Earth eat in calories per year? What changes could be made to our diets for the amount of calories to equal the energy of...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Pizza Bird
Pizza BirdMy boyfriend recently took a flight on a plane with wifi, and while he was up there, wistfully asked if I could send him a pizza. I jokingly sent him a photo of a parrot holding a pizza slice...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Tatooine Rainbow
Tatooine RainbowSince rainbows are caused by the refraction of the sunlight by tiny droplets of rainwater, what would rainbow look like on Earth if we had two suns like Tatooine?—RagaA planet with...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Sun Bug
Sun BugHow many fireflies would it take to match the brightness of the Sun?Luke DotyNot that many! I mean, it's definitely one of those gigantic numbers with lots of zeroes, but in the grand scheme of...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Flood Death Valley
Flood Death ValleySince Death Valley is below sea level could we dig a hole to the ocean and fill it up with water?—Nick TraedenYes! We can do anything we want. We shouldn't do this, though, because it...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Peptides
PeptidesWhat is the longest English word you can spell using the one letter abbreviations of the 20 genetic amino acids? What about the three letter abbreviations? What would the resultant peptides...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Coast-to-Coast Coasting
Coast-to-Coast CoastingWhat if the entire continental US was on a decreasing slope from West to East. How steep would the slope have to be to sustain the momentum needed to ride a bicycle the entire...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Toaster vs. Freezer
Toaster vs. FreezerWould a toaster still work in a freezer?—My Brother, My Brother and Me, Episode 343, discussing a Yahoo Answers questionOn a recent episode of Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy's...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Electrofishing for Whales
Electrofishing for WhalesI used to work on a fisheries crew where we would use an electro-fisher backpack to momentarily stun small fish (30 - 100 mm length) so we could scoop them up with nets to...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Hide the Atmosphere
Hide the AtmosphereEarth’s atmosphere is really thin compared to the radius of the Earth. How big a hole do I need to dig before people suffocate?—Sam BurkeThe idea here is straightforward: When you...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Coast-to-Coast Coasting
Coast-to-Coast CoastingWhat if the entire continental US was on a decreasing slope from West to East. How steep would the slope have to be to sustain the momentum needed to ride a bicycle the entire...
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XKCD QA (What If?): Toaster vs. Freezer
Toaster vs. FreezerWould a toaster still work in a freezer?—My Brother, My Brother and Me, Episode 343, discussing a Yahoo Answers questionOn a recent episode of Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy's...
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