What If? 2 [eBook - NC Digital Library] : Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! An NPR Best Book of 2022 "The questions throughout What If? 2 are equal parts brilliant, gross, and wonderfully absurd and the answers are thorough, deeply researched, and great fun. . . . Science isn’t easy, but in Munroe’s capable hands, it surely can be fun." — TIME The #1 New York Times bestselling author of What If? and How To answers more of the weirdest questions you never thought to ask The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Munroe consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airliner catapult–design to answer his readers’ questions, clearly and concisely, with illuminating and occasionally terrifying illustrations. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Title Page Copyright Questions Disclaimer Introduction 1. Soupiter 2. Helicopter Ride 3. Dangerously Cold 4. Ironic Vaporization 5. Cosmic Road Trip 6. Pigeon Chair Short Answers #1 7. T. Rex Calories 8. Geyser 9. Pew, Pew, Pew 10. Reading Every Book Weird & Worrying #1 11. Banana Church 12. Catch! 13. Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way 14. Paint the Earth 15. Jupiter Comes to Town 16. Star Sand 17. Swing Set 18. Airliner Catapult Short Answers #2 19. Slow Dinosaur Apocalypse 20. Elemental Worlds 21. One-Second Day 22. Billion-Story Building 23. $2 Undecillion Lawsuit 24. Star Ownership 25. Tire Rubber 26. Plastic Dinosaurs Short Answers #3 27. Suction Aquarium 28. Earth Eye 29. Build Rome in a Day 30. Mariana Trench Tube 31. Expensive Shoebox 32. Mri Compass 33. Ancestor Fraction 34. Bird Car 35. No-Rules Nascar Weird & Worrying #2 36. Vacuum Tube Smartphone 37. Laser Umbrella 38. Eat a Cloud 39. Tall Sunsets 40. Lava Lamp 41. Sisyphean Refrigerators 42. Blood Alcohol 43. Basketball Earth 44. Spiders vs. The Sun 45. Inhale a Person 46. Candy Crush Lightning Short Answers #4 47. Toasty Warm 48. Proton Earth, Electron Moon 49. Eyeball 50. Japan Runs an Errand 51. Fire from Moonlight 52. Read All the Laws Weird & Worrying #3 53. Saliva Pool 54. Snowball 55. Niagara Straw 56. Walking Backward in Time 57. Ammonia Tube 58. Earth-Moon Fire Pole Short Answers #5 59. Global Snow 60. Dog Overload 61. Into the Sun 62. Sunscreen 63. Walking on the Sun 64. Lemon Drops and Gumdrops Acknowledgments References Index About the Author Copyright Title Page Dedication Contents Chapter 1: ‘I’m thinking’ – Oh, but are you? Chapter 2: Renegade perception Chapter 3: The Pushbacker sting Chapter 4: ‘Covid’: The calculated catastrophe Chapter 5: There is no ‘virus’ Chapter 6: Sequence of deceit Chapter 7: War on your mind Chapter 8: ‘Reframing’ insanity Chapter 9: We must have it? So what is it? Chapter 10: Human 2.0 Chapter 11: Who controls the Cult? Chapter 12: Escaping Wetiko Postscript Appendix: Cowan-Kaufman-Morell Statement on Virus Isolation Bibliography Index "The #1 New York Times-bestselling author of What If? and How To provides his best answers yet to the weirdest questions you never thought to ask. The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer door at the same time? Maybe it's time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers' questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall's signature stick-figure comics, What If? 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages"--Provided by publisher "The #1 New York Times-bestselling author of What If? and How To provides his best answers yet to the weirdest questions you never thought to ask The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer door at the same time? Maybe it's time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers' questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall's signature stick-figure comics, What If? 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages"-- Provided by publisher "An absolute delight!" —Hank Green The #1 New York Times bestselling author of What If? and How To answers more of the weirdest questions you never thought to ask The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Munroe consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airliner catapult–design to answer his readers’ questions, clearly and concisely, with illuminating and occasionally terrifying illustrations. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Introduction Soupiter Helicopter Ride Dangerously Cold Ironic Vaporization Cosmic Road Trip Pigeon Chair Short Answers #1 T. Rex Calories Geyser Pew, Pew, Pew Reading Every Book Weird & Worrying #1 Banana Church Catch! Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way Paint the Earth Jupiter Comes to Town Star Sand Swing Set Airliner Catapult Short Answers #2 Slow Dinosaur Apocalypse Elemental Worlds One-Second Day Billion-Story Building $2 Undecillion Lawsuit Star Ownership Tire Rubber Plastic Dinosaurs Short Answers #3 Suction Aquarium Earth Eye Build Rome in a Day Mariana Trench Tube Expensive Shoebox MRI Compass Ancestor Fraction Bird Car No-Rules NASCAR Weird & Worrying #2 Vacuum Tube Smartphone Laser Umbrella Eat a Cloud Tall Sunsets Lava Lamp Sisyphean Refrigerators Blood Alcohol Basketball Earth Spiders vs. the Sun Inhale a Person Candy Crush Lightening Short Answers #4 Toasty Warm Proton Earth, Electron Moon Eyeball Japan Runs an Errand Fire from Moonlight Read All the Laws Weird & Worrying #3 Saliva Pool Snowball Niagara Straw Walking Backward in Time Ammonia Tube Earth-Moon Fire Pole Short Answers #5 Global Snow Dog Overload Into the Sun Sunscreen Walking on the Sun Lemon Drops and Gumdrops Acknowledgments References Index Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What would happen if the Solar System was filled with soup out to Jupiter? —Amelia, age 5