Randall Munroe on answering the strangest scientific questions

The cartoonist and technologist reveals what percent of each humans who person ever lived are your ancestors, and what mightiness hap if you pumped axenic ammonia into your tummy (don't)

Physics 12 October 2022

By Chen Ly

Randall Munroe

Adrianne Mathiowetz

Randall Munroe is an engineer, writer and cartoonist who is champion known for creating the webcomic xkcd. With the tagline “a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language”, xkcd covers conscionable astir everything, from subject and doctrine to popular culture. Munroe has besides written respective books, including What If? and its precocious released sequel, What If? 2, which playfully tackle the unusual technological questions posed by his readers.

Munroe speaks to New Scientist connected what draws him to physics, his penning process – and immoderate of his favourite …