# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=137 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 138 --- ## [Mirrors and Images](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors-and-images/400768)
**Author:** [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 19, 2007, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors-and-images/400768 "2007-04-19T09:11:47Z")
Re: Mirrors and images Mirrors are used by eye doctors for their standard eye tests nowadays, if their office doesn’t have the luxury of 20-foot long rooms. They’ll have a mirror on a wall in front of you, and project … --- ## [Re: Is poking a knife into the toaster really dangerous?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-is-poking-a-knife-into-the-toaster-really-dangerous/400653)
**Author:** [@Jessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jessie)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 18, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-is-poking-a-knife-into-the-toaster-really-dangerous/400653 "2007-04-18T23:15:38Z")
I found this article quite useful, and will be using chopsticks to retrieve my toast and bagels from now on. Thanks! :smiley: --- ## [Medical applications of urine](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-applications-of-urine/400225)
**Author:** [@mudsharkymon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudsharkymon)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 17, 2007, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-applications-of-urine/400225 "2007-04-17T08:18:23Z")
In http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070330.html (Can urinating on your feet in the shower cure athlete’s foot?) you point out that since urine is sterile it is not of any use to help cure athlete’s foot or any other s… --- ## [More on falling bullets...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-falling-bullets/400113)
**Author:** [@HenriCoulette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenriCoulette)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 15, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-falling-bullets/400113 "2007-04-15T01:25:09Z")
Responding to this column: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a950414b.html The original questioner said: “streets full of Middle Eastern men indiscriminately firing guns straight up into the air.” Since your websit… --- ## [2+2=5](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-2-5/399781)
**Author:** [@Puzzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Puzzler)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [April 15, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-2-5/399781 "2007-04-15T01:18:01Z")
In the “Does 2 + 2 = 5 for very large values of 2?” column, Dex regards this joke as being related to rounding and estimating. For example, he gives a 0-decimal rounding of 2.48+2.47=4.95 =\> 2+2+5. I’d like to mention t… --- ## [another example of "igNobel prize"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-example-of-ignobel-prize/399968)
**Author:** [@kbrubaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbrubaker)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 13, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-example-of-ignobel-prize/399968 "2007-04-13T22:32:50Z")
After Cecil’s column in April '07 on poorly awarded Nobel Prize’s, I happened to come across another example: Daniele Bovete won a Nobel prize in microbiology, and went on to claim that SMOKING LEADS TO HIGHER INTELLIGEN… --- ## [Medicinal Pee](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicinal-pee/398157)
**Author:** [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [April 13, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medicinal-pee/398157 "2007-04-13T18:05:39Z")
refering to This Recent Masterpiece If we’re not to use our own produce to cure our own problems, what about the idea of peeing on jellyfish stings? Is it equally as futile if I’m suffering during a day on the beach? --- ## [I can move my mailbox? Really?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-move-my-mailbox-really/399546)
**Author:** [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 13, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-move-my-mailbox-really/399546 "2007-04-13T11:18:05Z")
I just got around to reading the mailbox mailbag (heh) and noticed this mischievous line (bolding mine): I don’t think postal customers can arbitrarily move their mailboxes closer to their houses. If Dee Aye follows y… --- ## [HIV Reporting Soon to Be in all 50 states](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-reporting-soon-to-be-in-all-50-states/399870)
**Author:** [@79Eric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/79Eric)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 12, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiv-reporting-soon-to-be-in-all-50-states/399870 "2007-04-12T22:22:09Z")
This is a follow up to this column http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mnamed.html I read in this news article they are now going to report HIV+ cases in all 50 states by the end of the year All 50 States to require H… --- ## [Absolute zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-zero/399712)
**Author:** [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 12, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-zero/399712 "2007-04-12T22:18:25Z")
Link: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_347.html In this column, Cecil writes “The colder something gets, the less internal motion or vibration its molecules exhibit. At absolute zero–that is, zero degrees Kelvin … --- ## [Primary Colors in Cecil's Spotlight?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primary-colors-in-cecils-spotlight/399618)
**Author:** [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 11, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primary-colors-in-cecils-spotlight/399618 "2007-04-11T13:28:06Z")
In this thread, http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_344.html, Cecil claims that spotlights use the additive primary colors to make white light. And true, I’ve seen this demonstrated. However, Cecil also claims that… --- ## [Urbane Legend since 1940](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urbane-legend-since-1940/399423)
**Author:** [@bseuss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bseuss)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 11, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urbane-legend-since-1940/399423 "2007-04-11T02:03:21Z")
For decades I have heard people tell me that a friend of a friend went to high school with some guy who bought a new car that got 200 mpg, only to have shady people in black come and remove the carburetor. I think I’ve … --- ## [Does the U.S. government own my mailbox?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-u-s-government-own-my-mailbox/399042)
**Author:** [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [April 10, 2007, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-u-s-government-own-my-mailbox/399042 "2007-04-10T15:38:46Z")
Hello, In the answer to this question you say this: Do you know, or does anybody know, if this is true in Canada as well? I hate getting all that crap in my mailbox, and would love to get it to stop. Thanks. --- ## [Can opera singers shatter glass with their high notes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-opera-singers-shatter-glass-with-their-high-notes/399279)
**Author:** [@bananapanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bananapanic)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-opera-singers-shatter-glass-with-their-high-notes/399279 "2007-04-09T14:51:55Z")
On episode 18 of season 2, the Mythbusters showed this was true. They had a vocal instructor sing, unamplified, at the proper frequency and shattered a lead crystal glass. --- ## [Nobel Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize/398999)
**Author:** [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [April 7, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize/398999 "2007-04-07T23:23:36Z")
Though he correctly notes that the “Nobel Prize in Economics” was not set up by Nobel but by the Bank of Sweden, Cecil missed a chance to clarify that this means that the prize is not actually a Nobel Prize at all. Its o… --- ## [In chemistry, what do the letters "PA" stand for?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-chemistry-what-do-the-letters-pa-stand-for/398066)
**Author:** [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 7, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-chemistry-what-do-the-letters-pa-stand-for/398066 "2007-04-07T20:52:11Z")
PA could stand for lots of things. In the present contest there is a case for suggesting it stands for “pro analysi”. Many chemicals are sold as puriss (or purim) p.a. which means that they have a certificate of purity. … --- ## [Nobel Prize; a phrasing question.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-a-phrasing-question/399124)
**Author:** [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 7, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-a-phrasing-question/399124 "2007-04-07T20:17:56Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070406.html I’ve never seen this use of “chimera” before. The only times i’ve heard it are referring to the monster specifically or of two different types of something present in one… --- ## [What diseases can you catch from toilet seats?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-diseases-can-you-catch-from-toilet-seats/392817)
**Author:** [@misstenacity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstenacity)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [April 7, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-diseases-can-you-catch-from-toilet-seats/392817 "2007-04-07T19:35:58Z")
Regarding “The public toilet seat question”, and this quote: “You can get cooties, and that’s about it.” … um, no, you actually can’t even catch cooties. Or, let me rephrase that and say you are EXTREMELY, HIGHLY unli… --- ## [Color Mixing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-mixing/399011)
**Author:** [@davidvds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidvds)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 6, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/color-mixing/399011 "2007-04-06T21:23:58Z")
In the article, Cecil writes, “The subtractive primaries are red, blue, and yellow–to be exact, magenta, cyan (light blue), and yellow.” To say that they are red, blue, and yellow is not merely imprecise, but flat wrong… --- ## [Why isn't aluminum magnetic?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-aluminum-magnetic/398751)
**Author:** [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 6, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-aluminum-magnetic/398751 "2007-04-06T20:53:33Z")
I’ve never heard reference to the M shell. Is that n=3? I didn’t realize they also went by letters? Here is the article. --- ## [How often do informers collect reward money?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-informers-collect-reward-money/398673)
**Author:** [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 5, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-informers-collect-reward-money/398673 "2007-04-05T18:16:13Z")
Another well written staff report by GFactor. How often do informers collect reward money? I did not realize how often posted rewards go unpaid, nor how difficult it is to collect them. I also wanted to add that Carbo… --- ## [The history behind Fido](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-history-behind-fido/398681)
**Author:** [@Kenhbradshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenhbradshaw)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-history-behind-fido/398681 "2007-04-04T18:24:44Z")
You don’t go far enough in explaining the popularity of Fido as a dog’s name. True, it means faithful. But it is popular because it was the name of Abraham Lincoln’s dog. There is a picture and a story was written abo… --- ## [Shattering glasses with the human voice?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattering-glasses-with-the-human-voice/397152)
**Author:** [@Bubble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bubble)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shattering-glasses-with-the-human-voice/397152 "2007-04-04T18:23:56Z")
With regard to the column regarding smashing glasses using voice harmonics , I saw this the other day. Just a bit of fun. --- ## [Fire a gun, drop a bullet...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-a-gun-drop-a-bullet/397389)
**Author:** [@esaunders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/esaunders)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fire-a-gun-drop-a-bullet/397389 "2007-04-04T14:38:01Z")
I rarely disagree with the venerable Cecil Adams (in fact this is the first time), but I don’t understand the answer to the question of whether a fired bullet or dropped bullet would hit the ground first. He states that… --- ## [Minding your Ps and Qs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minding-your-ps-and-qs/382589)
**Author:** [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2007, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minding-your-ps-and-qs/382589 "2007-04-04T06:58:12Z")
Perhaps it’s just me, but anyone I’ve ever asked said “mind your p’s and q’s” meant “remember to say please and thank you”- the Q being the sound of the word “you” when preceded by a K. Anyone else heard this? --- ## [Why Do Stars Twinkle?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stars-twinkle/398062)
**Author:** [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 4, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-stars-twinkle/398062 "2007-04-04T02:13:21Z")
This classic column gives me an excuse to reference one of my favorite songs. This is probably the best rhyming description of a natural phenomena ever created. The other songs on the album are also worth a listen. Balla… --- ## [Monaco's Royal Family](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monacos-royal-family/394339)
**Author:** [@MerRob54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MerRob54)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monacos-royal-family/394339 "2007-04-02T13:21:21Z")
I just read a Straight Dope posting about the fact that if Monoco fails to produce an heir, the sovereign state reverts to being a full-fledged part of France. Considering that both of Albert’s children are illigitmate … --- ## [Democracies at War](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracies-at-war/396595)
**Author:** [@Howard\_Gibson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Howard_Gibson)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democracies-at-war/396595 "2007-04-01T14:24:28Z")
Cecil, For the reasons you mention, wars between democracies are rare. Some level of democracy was common in ancient times, and wars between them were common. Rome versus Carthage is a good example. Most of the Greek… --- ## [50% of Marriages End in Divorce Myth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-marriages-end-in-divorce-myth/398224)
**Author:** [@Bang\_This](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bang_This)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2007, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-of-marriages-end-in-divorce-myth/398224 "2007-04-01T11:42:20Z")
I often heard it was a myth but can’t figure out why and if so, where the figure came from? I don’t get the explination on snopes, anyone can explain it a bit more simply. --- ## [Do spacecraft swing around planets to gain speed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-spacecraft-swing-around-planets-to-gain-speed/397183)
**Author:** [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-spacecraft-swing-around-planets-to-gain-speed/397183 "2007-03-30T18:26:22Z")
Great work, Stranger: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgravslingshot.htm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=136) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=138)