Comics that ask "what if?" | Randall Munroe

Comics that ask "what if?" | Randall Munroe

Web cartoonist Randall Munroe answers simple what-if questions (“what if you hit a baseball moving at the speed of light?”) using math, physics, logic and deadpan humor. In this charming talk, a reader’s question about Google’s data warehouse leads Munroe down a circuitous path to a hilariously over-detailed answer — in which, shhh, you might actually learn something.

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50 Comments

  1. Orangetree 1234 on March 15, 2021 at 1:07 am

    HIIIIIIII



  2. Londronable on March 15, 2021 at 1:07 am

    I bought that book to read on the airplane :p.



  3. Felix Ludwig on March 15, 2021 at 1:07 am

    Can I give more than one like?



  4. Joshua Chan on March 15, 2021 at 1:08 am

    …he still not update his blog for what if and the book… DISAPPOINTED!



  5. Zen Ventzi on March 15, 2021 at 1:09 am

    Came here thinking Comics = Comedians. Took me some time to realize I was wrong



  6. Splotch the Cat-Thing on March 15, 2021 at 1:10 am

    Eeeh, I was afraid his face and voice wouldn’t match what I like about the comic, but he actually sounds pretty much like I thought.
    Which is the only time that’s *ever* happened. So it’s actually weirder.



  7. rubber ducky on March 15, 2021 at 1:13 am

    This guy looks like he’s packing a big brain.



  8. Amey Kanzarkar on March 15, 2021 at 1:13 am

    Thanks for warning I was just about to throw ball very fast!!!



  9. Matthew Behrle on March 15, 2021 at 1:14 am

    If you pay attention to when a screen is shown in the background you see see that it is JUST off from how he is actually moving and it’s so annoying to see him make a circle and then the screen does it 5 nanoseconds later.



  10. Leif on March 15, 2021 at 1:16 am

    Would tat really,happen with a ball..doesn’t anything moving through,the air regardless of speed push air molecules out of,the way as it moves? I,don’t see why a higher speed,would,cause x rays..



  11. Leo Madero on March 15, 2021 at 1:17 am

    Randal (trying to find out google’s data which is a secret to even the government): "its almost as simple as solving a sudoku puzzle"



  12. Eternity on March 15, 2021 at 1:18 am

    He’s amazing !!!! Getting the book just now. Sending so much love nerd royalty !!!! 🌸♥️🌸♥️🌸♥️🌸🌠🌸🌠🌸🌠🌸🌠🌸🌸🌠



  13. Eternity on March 15, 2021 at 1:19 am

    OMGG



  14. Dancing echo on March 15, 2021 at 1:19 am

    meanwhile, in google’s Nerd-Snipe detector……

    /
    /



  15. Frederic Pim on March 15, 2021 at 1:20 am

    merci infiniment pour ce travail de traduction



  16. Felipemelazzi on March 15, 2021 at 1:21 am

    I must have watched this 4 times in my life



  17. BlankPaper on March 15, 2021 at 1:23 am

    Google doesn’t know how many data-centers they have… That’s how powerful they actually are.



  18. Black Hat Guy on March 15, 2021 at 1:24 am

    What if we used more power?



  19. CPTHAP on March 15, 2021 at 1:24 am

    Skynet: Sends a robot back in time to kill you personally.
    Google: NO COMMENT.



  20. Greg L on March 15, 2021 at 1:25 am

    Does he work for XKCD?



  21. Tanya G Davies on March 15, 2021 at 1:25 am

    Google: No comment. 🤣🤣🤣



  22. Pilletta Doinswartsh on March 15, 2021 at 1:27 am

    My 13-year-old daughter HATES math. In the past, she just would refuse to do it. Since then, we’ve convinced her (somehow) to do her math homework, and she’s now at least getting by.

    The other day, as I was walking by her, she exclaimed "Dad, I got 500 followers on Instagram! That’s a half a thousand!!!"

    I retorted, "Now, how would you know that’s half a thousand? Math, right? YOU did MATH! And nobody made you do it!!!"

    STILL, she refused to concede……….."math still sucks," she said.



  23. Aditya Banka on March 15, 2021 at 1:28 am

    Internet’s nuclear scientist in creating logically sound and mathematically correct memes😂



  24. S Miller on March 15, 2021 at 1:32 am

    Let’s get back to that love after a broken heart question. 💔



  25. Fede Gomez on March 15, 2021 at 1:33 am

    Randall is simply the best



  26. rawgrave on March 15, 2021 at 1:33 am

    What’s the lesson??



  27. Hrvoje Koši on March 15, 2021 at 1:34 am

    I have his book What if translated to croatian it’s a lot of fun!



  28. Nethroi apex of death on March 15, 2021 at 1:35 am

    There he is, the man, the myth, the legend.



  29. Sophia Lin on March 15, 2021 at 1:37 am

    Oh my gosh, I finally knows what he looks like.



  30. Richard N on March 15, 2021 at 1:38 am

    The Good Comic.



  31. Siddhi Kabra on March 15, 2021 at 1:40 am

    Some part of this is called Fermi Problem solving; check out fermiproblems.in if you want to learn how to think like that



  32. Rasmus Wahlstedt on March 15, 2021 at 1:43 am

    Math is one helluva drug…



  33. Sangui on March 15, 2021 at 1:44 am

    I was immediately confused when I saw him, because I was expecting a hat.



  34. ryan dinupaul on March 15, 2021 at 1:44 am

    POLII



  35. 3D Maker Kid on March 15, 2021 at 1:45 am

    Imagine if Google would have rickrolled him…



  36. Monkey D Luffy on March 15, 2021 at 1:46 am

    The name of the "Airplane" is probably the literal sense of what level an object can operate on, it operates in the air-plane.
    the latin word "planus" roughly equals to "level" or "slat" or simly a "plane". Just as submarine refers to "sub" which roughly means "under" and "marine" that refers to sea or water area of operation such as marine life equals to all that lives in the sea, so submarine would essentially mean "under-water-plane".
    So airplane probably means a certain plane of existence rather than an object.

    so a human with wheels and could fly the probably would get a similar name to: airplane people or human airplane
    (note that this is a thoughtexperiment and not actual facts, exept for the latin)



  37. David Kempton on March 15, 2021 at 1:47 am

    In ancient Rome, five courtesans were on the bridge crossing the Tiber discussing prices with three potential clients, Horatius and two Etruscans.
    What was the Horatio at the Bridge?



  38. TheBestLettuce on March 15, 2021 at 1:47 am

    When I finally gain omnipotence and become God, the lightspeed baseball thing is the first thing I’ll do.



  39. RubberToe on March 15, 2021 at 1:50 am

    That’s the best way I have ever seen to waste my time.



  40. ßr3ñ† Muπrøè on March 15, 2021 at 1:53 am

    Hey! He has the same last name as me.



  41. Ian on March 15, 2021 at 1:55 am

    Some guy at Google had a lot of free time



  42. bluefox on March 15, 2021 at 1:56 am

    No comment.



  43. Mark James on March 15, 2021 at 1:56 am

    between sentences you can hear him breathing



  44. hpycndl on March 15, 2021 at 1:56 am

    I enjoyed every moment of this talk.



  45. John Kyoungmoon Chang on March 15, 2021 at 1:57 am

    hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii



  46. Crafty Chrystal on March 15, 2021 at 1:59 am

    On that last question…. Make it ‘wings’ instead of ‘wheels’ and — Size ( even really big people are smaller than the smallest plane), speed (presumably not fast enough to start losing articles of clothing, but fast enough to get lift), cruising height above ground (the need to breath is a real limiter) lack of ability to show up on radar (unless they can pick up birds too then refer back to size), length of runway needed to land and take off ( if we had vertical capability, they would notice the lack of rotors on top), and so on… Or we could look at it from the way it was asked….They could tell at a glance that you had no registration numbers printed on your side and there for were not registered as a plane. Probably had no submitted flight plan, and therefore would probably end up crashing into other unregistered, flyers. Then the lack of burning and exploding on impact would probably be a dead give-away. Thank you very much! LOL



  47. david jones on March 15, 2021 at 1:59 am

    what a bunch of bullshit



  48. Molly Pike on March 15, 2021 at 2:03 am

    My mum bought me his book some years ago, it was amazing!!!



  49. CoolHand032 on March 15, 2021 at 2:04 am

    I want to be his friend