xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

Cueball explains to Megan that on Saturn's moon Titan, the combination of lower gravity and a denser atmosphere make the act of flying simpler. Wings that are only capable of generating 9% of the necessary lift on Earth would allow one to fly if used on Titan.

Cueball now stands in front of an apparatus to do so; he is standing in a valley with a metal arch above him, and two pulleys that have a rope going from Cueball to one pulley to the other and to the pile of bricks that weigh 91% of his weight, so if he generates enough lift to cancel out 9% of his weight, then he will be able to lift himself and fly.

The experiment is a success. However, as Megan points out, his experiment has some problems, namely that he used hot glue for the wing joints and that he has friends into Greek mythology.

Icarus is a Greek character known for his self-powered flight, which ended when the wax holding his wings together melted due to the sun's heat, and he fell to his death. This supposedly occurred because he ignored instructions not to fly too close to the Sun, a tragic example of hubris — extreme arrogance. Here, Black Hat is bringing an artificial "sun" to "Icarus" to recreate the tragedy.

Black Hat is standing on top of the arch with a powerful heat source, a heat lamp. The hot glue melts, then the wings fall apart, then Cueball falls.

In the title text, Randall asks that xkcd readers do not attempt to reproduce this. The reason for this is explained here. It could also simply be a media-standard "Don't try this at home" warning, as there are legitimate dangers to flying around unprotected. Sufficient height and a sudden loss of one's wings could indeed result in death (and deliberately causing someone to lose their wings and die or be injured would indeed get one arrested).

One thing to note about this comic is that Cueball is still attached via pulley to the bricks. These bricks, weighing down on the other side, should (obviously) slow his fall considerably. Of course, Black Hat could also cut the rope...^{[citation needed]}