Awesome Hypotheticals

The “glass half-full/half-empty” idiom offers a simplistic way of comparing pessimistic and optimistic thoughts. xkcd’s What If? explores the physics at work if a glass was literally half-empty and that space was filled with a vacuum. The outcome would be quite different depending on which half was liquid and which half was the vacuum.

We all know that the Sun is a terribly hot place. But would you burn to a crisp if you somehow landed on its surface for a nanosecond and then instantly came back to Earth? xkcd’s What If? explores another viewer-submitted hypothetical situation and explains how things would turn out much worse if you transported yourself to the Sun’s core.

We all know that our home planet is shaped like a sphere. What If pokes fun at flat earthers, imagining what Earth would be like if it was not only flat, it was shaped like a slice of pizza. Even if it was physically possible for such a planet to exist, it sounds like a terrible place to live, especially near the crust.

Scientists recently discovered what appears to be water deep in the outer crust of Mars. xkcd’s What If? imagines what might happen if we gave the red planet a leg up in the moisture department and dumped all of Earth’s water on its surface. While most of it would probably freeze, there’s a chance it could cause temperatures to rise and stay liquid.

Wikipedia is the world’s largest repository of human knowledge. For fun, xckd’s What If? calculated how many printers you’d need to keep up with the edits being made every day – just to the English site. This Wikipedia page shows how many books you’d need to hold only English articles without images. Now, multiply by 10 to get the global numbers.

xkcd’s What If? answers another wild hypothetical question – basically, what might happen if you put a portal at the bottom of the deepest point in the ocean and let the water run down the drain? Because of the physics at play, it might take a long time before anyone noticed, but eventually you could ride your bike from the U.S. to New Zealand.

Imagine, if you will, that Mother Nature focused her energy on a single location and hit it with all of her electrical fury. xkcd’s What If? takes on another hypothetical question, exploring what might happen if every lightning bolt struck a single spot on Earth and whether we could harvest the power from the mega-storm.

Randall Munroe and Henry Reich’s What If? attempts to answer the hypothetical question of what might happen if every living human stood close together, jumped off of the ground, and landed at the same exact time. While the answer to that question is less exciting than you might think, there would be plenty of unintended consequences of such an event.

xkcd’s What If? is back with another hypothetical question. This time, a follower asked: “How long could a nuclear submarine last in orbit?” Along the way, you’ll learn if a sub’s hull could withstand the conditions in space, and more importantly, what might happen to its occupants and nuclear reactor.

Some people have tried to make unconventional umbrellas, but for the most part, a traditional design is the most efficient way to keep raindrops from falling on your head. In this clip from Randall Munroe and Henry Reich’s What If? series, they explore a hypothetical and impractical invention – a powerful laser that vaporizes raindrops out of the sky as they fall.

Imagine, for a moment, that it was possible to pitch a baseball at 90% of the speed of light. Not only would you easily eliminate the batter, but there would be other major consequences according to this hypothetical physics exploration by the mighty Randall Munroe of xkcd. Weapons makers, don’t get any funny ideas.

You might not feel it, but the Earth is spinning quite quickly. Depending on your latitude, you could be going more than 1000 MPH. xkcd’s What If? explores what might happen if, all of a sudden, the planet stopped spinning and the atmosphere kept going. Things wouldn’t bode well for living creatures or structures, thanks to the extreme wind and waves.

Any earthquake above a magnitude 5 can do damage, and levels higher than that can turn serious or deadly. xkcd’s What If? ponders the question of what sort of horrible things would happen if something much more intense hit our planet, say a magnitude 15 or higher. Who knew that there were negative magnitude quakes?

Given the vastness of the universe, it’s almost impossible to fathom that there aren’t other life forms out there. In this video from Kurzgesagt, they explore the hypothetical idea that aliens are just a few steps behind us, and will soon catch up with technology that allows them to explore space and visit other planets.

Most humans won’t venture deeper than a basement or tunnel, but you could dig 7917.5 miles before you came out on the other side of Earth. On your way, you’ll visit the crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere, mantle, and outer and inner cores. This pixel art video from Posit Pixel explores what you might see on your journey.

The biblical story of Jonah includes a part where the prophet is swallowed by a whale and survives inside its belly for three days and nights. But what would happen if you really got gulped up by one of these giant sea mammals? House of the Future explores the practical realities of this folktale.