this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2026
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xkcd

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xkcd #3316: Siege Engine

Title text:

They initially thought the containment structure alone would be sufficient, but for good measure they decided to include the Elephant's Foot inside.

Transcript:

Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com

Source: https://xkcd.com/3316/

explainxkcd for #3316

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[–] razen@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Today itself i saw a short on yt about this. Weird

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 7 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Do you want Russia to bomb the castle? Because this is how you get Russia to bomb the castle

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 12 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Do you want X Men? Because that's how you get cancer.

[–] Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)
[–] scratchee@feddit.uk 25 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Oof, I’m all for the alternative siege engine, but I think the elephant’s foot might be a war crime.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 0 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

What does the elephant's foot have to do with this siege approach

[–] scratchee@feddit.uk 4 points 5 hours ago

The elephants foot is the name for the melted core at Chernobyl, its relevance is that the siege equipment in question is the Chernobyl containment facility (which was built to the side and then rolled over the entire reactor building because you can’t build in place with all the radiation trying to kill you).

So, containment facility is an interesting siege weapon, including the elephants foot turns it into a nuclear attrocity in a big box, rather different vibe.

[–] my_hat_stinks@programming.dev 1 points 4 hours ago

Xkcd always has another punchline in the alt text, in this one they say they'll include the elephant's foot.