Title text:
Runners looking for aerodynamic advantage typically wear sneakers because some fancy dress shoes can create wingtip vortices.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3305/
this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2026
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An aviation joke? I can't imagine many people getting this without explainxkcd :D
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand xkcd. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head. There's also blackhats nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from early internet forums, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these jokes, to realise that they're not just funny- they say something deep about LIFE.
Mm pasta
Aeronautics isn't too far fetched for a comic series aimed at (astro-)physicists and computer scientists.
It's hard to run if you aren't touching the ground