xkcd

by **Duban** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:05 pm UTC

Oh, here is a link to where you can watch it if anyone is interested. It's really good.

Link redacted. Not sure how legal it is, so erring on the side of caution.

by **yono1986** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:18 pm UTC

I want to see someone bend luminiferous aether, which would be very useful for stealth/espionage/theft, but the show seems to exist in this weird parallel universe where they've done the michaelson-morley experiment, but still believe in classical elements

by **SirMustapha** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:19 pm UTC

pokeman7452 wrote:
SirMustapha wrote:Show? Sorry, dude, The Last Airbender is a very famous movie by M. Night Shyamalan. I know that because I watch movies and I know stuff.

[/Randall]

Was that a joke of some kind?

Since I was making fun of Randall, yes, it's quite probably a joke.

I haven't had the opportunity to watch the cartoon, but I am aware that the opinions on it are almost unanimously positive. That said, since nobody made that joke yet, I wish to show my favourite bender:

Spoiler:

by **Izawwlgood** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:23 pm UTC

undecim wrote:
pigslookfunny wrote:I never watched the show, so I'm not exactly sure how this element bending works, but it seems to me that carbon benders would be pretty scary.

Or anyone who can control any of the essential elements in the human body.

That's one thing I never really got... Couldn't the water benders just bend the water in their enemies bodies? Maybe they couldn't do it quite as strongly as they do pure water, but still... I saw them freeze water in one episode. How difficult must it be to do the same to various internal organs?

You evidently didn't watch the entire series.

SirMustapha wrote:Since I was making fun of Randall, yes, it's quite probably a joke.

I don't get it. You've properly pointed out that there was a spinoff movie, and you've done so in a manner that actually suggests you're an elitist idiot. Was your joke to make fun of yourself? Because I don't see how your comment remotely pokes at Randal.

by **picnic_crossfire** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:27 pm UTC

by **SirMustapha** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:32 pm UTC

Izawwlgood wrote:I don't get it. You've properly pointed out that there was a spinoff movie, and you've done so in a manner that actually suggests you're an elitist idiot. Was your joke to make fun of yourself? Because I don't see how your comment remotely pokes at Randal.

The "fake closing tag" implies that I was impersonating him, and I implied that he doesn't know a lot about the subject he's making jokes with.

by **Izawwlgood** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:33 pm UTC

Oh, I get it. So you said something he didn't, but could have, as an unreferenced aspect of his comic, and that was making fun of him. Gotcha. Riveting criticisms SirM, riveting.

by **SirMustapha** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:12 pm UTC

But that wasn't supposed to be riveting!! Just because I'm a critic doesn't mean I have to criticise all the time!

by **snowyowl** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:28 pm UTC

Most elements would be dangerous to some degree. If it's solid at room temperature, you can beat them up with it. If it's gaseous, you can asphyxiate them. If it's liquid, you can probably poison them. And all the rest give you radiation poisoning.

by **hawkinsssable** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:42 pm UTC

Reminds me of this.

Especially the part where he

Spoiler:

by **ofMars** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:53 pm UTC

isocum wrote:I wonder if Redcloak will call Mr. Jones and Mr. Phil Rodriguez or just be happy that he isn't the only one listened his chemistry classes.

Nice obscurity combo, bro. Speaking of the playground, there's a d20 homebrew project I participated in a few years ago to make playable bending classes. They work pretty well, if I say so myself

by **Rorgg** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:12 pm UTC

In a complete coincidence, my fiancée just received in the mail our new shower curtain:

How could I NOT marry her?

by **Kristopher** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:29 pm UTC

Cesium Bending.

Target bursts into intense poisonous flames.

by **lly** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:19 pm UTC

I felt Order of the Stick did this joke better with the Titanium Elemental and the Chlorine Elemental.

by **rhomboidal** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:36 pm UTC

It'd be SO embarrassing if Dmitri had noobish skills in mendelevium-bending.

by **RogueCynic** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:14 pm UTC

My vote for least harmful element bending would be helium, unless you consider dying from embarassment from speaking with it in your lungs fatal. Who would win in a fight, Avatar Ang, or Bender B. Rodriguez?

by **mercutio_stencil** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:33 pm UTC

I'd just like to say that there is no amount of alcohol in the world to make the movie watchable. It just leaves you very, very depressed. Trust me on this one, it's not an experiment worth repeating.

The real question is can an elemental bender control compounds, or just elements in their pure form? The former makes hydrogen bending insanely powerful, while the later would be pretty tough to actually use.

by **THEAGENCY** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:40 pm UTC

Today (10/17/11) in Chem, we learned about Mendeleev for the first time. The same week that “Dorm Poster” was posted, we learned about the energy spectra of elements. Coincidence? I think not. Mr. Munroe's web of spies is expanding.

by **Duban** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:50 pm UTC

RogueCynic wrote:My vote for least harmful element bending would be helium, unless you consider dying from embarassment from speaking with it in your lungs fatal. Who would win in a fight, Avatar Ang, or Bender B. Rodriguez?

I disagree. I think helium bending would be the best element to bend. Having helium bending abilities would basically give you power over alpha radiation. That could be really lethal if you used it inside your opponent's body. How many toxic elements could you create inside a person if you split their atoms with alpha decay while simultaneously bombarding their body with alpha decay.

With helium bending you could give physicists a reliable alpha emitter source, help expand our knowledge of physics, and create a plentiful supply of otherwise rare materials by bombarding them with alpha particles or by splitting them with alpha decay.

My vote for the most useless element bending is Californium. It isn't naturally occurring so you can't use your ability to mine it, and 1 pound of it costs hundreds of billions of dollars. You'll never get enough Californium to use for anything practical.

by **eran_rathan** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:53 pm UTC

undecim wrote:
pigslookfunny wrote:I never watched the show, so I'm not exactly sure how this element bending works, but it seems to me that carbon benders would be pretty scary.

Or anyone who can control any of the essential elements in the human body.

That's one thing I never really got... Couldn't the water benders just bend the water in their enemies bodies? Maybe they couldn't do it quite as strongly as they do pure water, but still... I saw them freeze water in one episode. How difficult must it be to do the same to various internal organs?

They do - the Blood bender.

by **Duban** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:01 pm UTC

eran_rathan wrote:
undecim wrote:
pigslookfunny wrote:I never watched the show, so I'm not exactly sure how this element bending works, but it seems to me that carbon benders would be pretty scary.

Or anyone who can control any of the essential elements in the human body.

That's one thing I never really got... Couldn't the water benders just bend the water in their enemies bodies? Maybe they couldn't do it quite as strongly as they do pure water, but still... I saw them freeze water in one episode. How difficult must it be to do the same to various internal organs?

They do - the Blood bender.

It takes one of the most powerful water-benders in the world and can only be done during a full moon. The titular Water-bender of the series, Katara, cringes at the idea of "reaching into your opponent's body". She only uses it twice in the entire series. Once was to stop the other blood-bender from killing her friends, and the other was against a person she thought killed her mother.

by **antalg** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:33 pm UTC

Wouldn't carbon bending be pretty darn powerful?

I mean, life on earth is carbon based. So...dance puppets dance?

by **SpringLoaded12** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:37 pm UTC

Alright guys, lay off SirMustapha a bit, can't he make a joke now and again?

asmodai wrote:There are now an amusing number of posts defending weaponized xenon.
I think we hold strong opinions on the wrong things.

Welcome to the fora, and get used to this sort of thing, because it happens at least once a week.

by **Cousj001** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:37 pm UTC

I wish unununium was still called that...Roentgenium is just weird.

Fluorine or Francium bending...make everything violently react. How about them?

Phosphorous bending - mess with people's DNA. Also, explosive again. (There's something fun about making things go bang. Immature, I know. But that was the reason I studied chemistry. Oxygen bending - pure oxygen, to make things more combustive.

by **SlyReaper** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:47 pm UTC

eran_rathan wrote:
undecim wrote:
pigslookfunny wrote:I never watched the show, so I'm not exactly sure how this element bending works, but it seems to me that carbon benders would be pretty scary.

Or anyone who can control any of the essential elements in the human body.

That's one thing I never really got... Couldn't the water benders just bend the water in their enemies bodies? Maybe they couldn't do it quite as strongly as they do pure water, but still... I saw them freeze water in one episode. How difficult must it be to do the same to various internal organs?

They do - the Blood bender.

You'd also think an airbender should be able to very easily suffocate his enemy. But I guess that doesn't fit into the whole peaceful monk thing.

by **rigwarl** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:49 pm UTC

Rorgg wrote:In a complete coincidence, my fiancée just received in the mail our new shower curtain:

How could I NOT marry her?

FUCK. WHYYYYYYY DID I JUST BUY A NEW SHOWER CURTAIN.

by **danix** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:14 pm UTC

isocum wrote:I wonder if Redcloak will call Mr. Jones and Mr. Phil Rodriguez or just be happy that he isn't the only one listened his chemistry classes.

The first thing I thought after this particular comic was also Redcloak's Titanium and Chlorine Elementals as well. Even had a fun argument about "why stick to outdated 4 element theories?" :twisted:

lly wrote:I felt Order of the Stick did this joke better with the Titanium Elemental and the Chlorine Elemental.

Ahhh, I see I am not the only one reading OOTS over here.

BTW, I wonder if the AvatarTLB movie is considered suckage because of the movie sucking, or just because Shaylaman directed it...

by **Himself** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:35 pm UTC

I could imagine trapping people or making metal objects useless as a gallium bender.
I know other have mentioned this, though, but if you want to be really cruel become a chlorine or fluorine bender.

by **Defaulted** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:39 pm UTC

I just made an account to say this;

If the francium benders and the water benders ever team up, we are, all of us, fucked completely and utterly.

If there exist benders of molecules, I'd be a Chlorine Trifluoride bender. I'd become king of the world three days after mastering the ability. Either that, or I'd be a Francium bender if I got a water bender buddy (or just focus on conquest of very humid areas).

by **Tyrannosaur** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:15 pm UTC

SirMustapha wrote:
A_of_s_t wrote:I think Randall misinterpreted his audience seeing that many people that have posted on the forum have not seen the show.

Show? Sorry, dude, The Last Airbender is a very famous movie by M. Night Shyamalan. I know that because I watch movies and I know stuff.

[/Randall]

I don't know why I like your(SirMustapha) posts so much. You're a jerk. But sometimes very funny.

by **Marsguy** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:41 pm UTC

Is Randull actually a fan of avatar: The Last Airbender?

by **bmonk** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:42 pm UTC

Of course, the Greek word we translate "elements" might better fit if we used "state" (of matter)--so that Air = Gas, Earth = solid, Fire = plasma, and Water = liquid.

However, even here we've found a few new "elements". What of collapsed matter (neutronium), or Bose-Einstein Condensates? (Even in the form of coherent light beams, a photon condensate?) We might well distinguish free-radical plasmas from ionic plasmas, such as flame vs. stars. Is the base vacuum a different element, containing as it does virtual particle pairs? Do different "solids" matter--a loose aggregation such as Earth, a solid lump (Rock), a crystalline particle? Or even a quasi-crystal? Is Glass a solid or a liquid? What about a liquid crystal?

It's all enough to drive a classical philosopher mad! Mad! MAD!

by **Hirg** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:11 pm UTC

Carbon-benders would exert complete control over all of Earth's life forms. Enough said.

by **glasnt** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:26 pm UTC

Has anyone made a joke about unobtainium-benders? If not.. that's my joke.

</effort>

joee wrote:LOL FIRST POST

Hi joee!

by **StClair** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:13 am UTC

pokeman7452 wrote:
SirMustapha wrote:Show? Sorry, dude, The Last Airbender is a very famous movie by M. Night Shyamalan. I know that because I watch movies and I know stuff.

[/Randall]

Was that a joke of some kind?

Yes; the "sarcastic", "not very good" kind.

by **muntoo** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:30 am UTC

I am proud to say that I have been an Avatar fan since the first few episodes.

... And never once did I think it was 'too childish'.

(I think I watched the 'premiere' on YTV, but I'm not too sure... it was years ago.)

--

Hydrogen bending would be best if you aimed to take over the universe, and had enough extremely, extremely, extremely powerful hydrogen benders. (But who'd want to take over the universe when you can just do some dimension-bending?)

by **typo** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:44 am UTC

I'm sort of hoping Randall's doing a week of chem comics for Mole Day coming up on Sunday. :mrgreen:

by **Katifer Dragonite** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:58 am UTC

The brilliant thing about Carbonbending is that you'd literally be able to pull diamonds out of thin air.
How sad is it that I've actually considered what I would do with this ability before I saw this comic?

by **muntoo** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:45 am UTC

Katifer Dragonite wrote:The brilliant thing about Carbonbending is that you'd literally be able to pull diamonds out of thin air.
How sad is it that I've actually considered what I would do with this ability before I saw this comic?

So no mass killing sprees?

I suppose as the dictator of the world, you would be able to order the mass genocide of whatever you wish. (I would start with ducks - they're quite annoying. Following that, puppies. They're the sole cause of severe mental retardation among females susceptible to 'connecting with nature'. Curse so-called-'cute' yet evil puppies.)

by **muntoo** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:51 am UTC

undecim wrote:
pigslookfunny wrote:I never watched the show, so I'm not exactly sure how this element bending works, but it seems to me that carbon benders would be pretty scary.

Or anyone who can control any of the essential elements in the human body.

That's one thing I never really got... Couldn't the water benders just bend the water in their enemies bodies? Maybe they couldn't do it quite as strongly as they do pure water, but still... I saw them freeze water in one episode. How difficult must it be to do the same to various internal organs?

avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Bloodbending wrote:Due to the extremity of its nature, Bloodbending is deemed by most to be a dark art and as such, is rarely used in combat. The infrequent application of Bloodbending in day-to-day activities is also due to the fact that the complexity and sophistication required to perform the art only allows for its use during a full moon, when a Waterbender's power is at its absolute peak.

See Bloodbending.

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