# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=180 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 181 --- ## [One more moon thread - the separating aspect](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-more-moon-thread-the-separating-aspect/275536)
**Author:** [@hiebram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hiebram)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-more-moon-thread-the-separating-aspect/275536 "2004-11-29T03:23:52Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_112.html Cecil says that the moon is pulling away at about four inches per month. Nasa and the Melbourne Planetarium say the moon is, on average, about 384,400 miles away. Here,… --- ## [Acoustic laser](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acoustic-laser/277037)
**Author:** [@bassbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bassbrian)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 29, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acoustic-laser/277037 "2004-11-29T00:02:23Z")
Interesting subject, but one basic flaw. “If they can sing low enough, about thirteen octaves below middle 'C,’” Well, middle C is approximately 262 cycles per second. One octave is one half of that frequency. Thirteen… --- ## [The Color Orange](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-color-orange/277034)
**Author:** [@fshepinc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fshepinc)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [November 28, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-color-orange/277034 "2004-11-28T23:59:57Z")
I finally got a new copy of The Straight Dope (two previous copies “disappeared”) and have been happily occupied rereading this legendary tome. On page 344 a somewhat flippant Pete B. asked about the origin of the word o… --- ## [Come on Cecil, if you're going to be a smartarse...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820)
**Author:** [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 27, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-on-cecil-if-youre-going-to-be-a-smartarse/276820 "2004-11-27T02:59:21Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_115a.html Anybody with any tea-making self-respect simply calls it a kettle, and nothing else. So there. --- ## [Genetically Insect-Population Sterilisation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetically-insect-population-sterilisation/276760)
**Author:** [@TooOldtoThink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TooOldtoThink)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genetically-insect-population-sterilisation/276760 "2004-11-26T16:49:33Z")
Dear All, I want to comment about insects sterilisation http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_066.html. Years ago, when I was in college, I made a paper about this for Quantitative Ecology/Population Dynamic lesson. … --- ## [Lead sinkers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-sinkers/275764)
**Author:** [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 26, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lead-sinkers/275764 "2004-11-26T13:39:58Z")
Do lead fishing sinkers threaten the environment? My high school had lead sinker molds, used by students with a little electric lead melting pot. You got to play with molten metal, how could that not be fun? --- ## [What are you laughing at?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-laughing-at/276632)
**Author:** [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-laughing-at/276632 "2004-11-25T14:41:09Z")
This may be better suited for GQ or GD, but here goes. In this column cecil offers: Remind me to explain the concept of a “joke” to you someday… (at the end, in the ‘TEEMING MILLIONS GET HUFFY’ section). No better time… --- ## [Grog?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grog/276422)
**Author:** [@Baxter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baxter)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [November 25, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grog/276422 "2004-11-25T01:07:35Z")
Nice work on the definition of “grog” (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgrog.html , the only area where you fell down was in taking the work “rum” literally. The word today implies a spirit distilled from cane sugar … --- ## [Why isn't there an audio equivalent of the laser?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-there-an-audio-equivalent-of-the-laser/276170)
**Author:** [@LordQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordQuixote)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 24, 2004, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-there-an-audio-equivalent-of-the-laser/276170 "2004-11-24T12:55:22Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_114.html Before answering this question, we must first state what a laser is. A laser is an amplified beam of coherent light. Ok, now what’s coherent light? It’s light of a uni… --- ## [Anesthesia awareness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anesthesia-awareness/267893)
**Author:** [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [November 23, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anesthesia-awareness/267893 "2004-11-23T14:19:51Z")
In this chilling column from 1999, Cecil talked about awareness under anesthesia and described some horrific examples. Yesterday, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations sent an alert to 4600 h… --- ## [Cecil must have corrected this by now](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882)
**Author:** [@daddydee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daddydee)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 22, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882 "2004-11-22T17:17:31Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_316.html In this article, Cecil states that Jerry Mathers “Leave it to Beaver” was killed in Viet Nam. I’ve been unable to locate the Cecil’s correction, which must exist… but di… --- ## [spud?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spud/275434)
**Author:** [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [November 22, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spud/275434 "2004-11-22T04:13:51Z")
I missed the joke here. Is it a play on the letter’s author’s name? Sorry for being so dense. --- ## [How Much Wood, indeed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-wood-indeed/270290)
**Author:** [@rcburket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rcburket)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-wood-indeed/270290 "2004-11-21T18:34:24Z")
I just wanted to tell readers (I’m sure Cecil already knows!) that his answer to how much wood a woodchuck would chuck (if a woodchuck could chuck wood) is historically corroborated: Walt Kelly, in one of the Pogo strips… --- ## [A little conversion error](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-little-conversion-error/275808)
**Author:** [@radiosonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radiosonde)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2004, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-little-conversion-error/275808 "2004-11-21T01:30:35Z")
The article converts around 800,000 pellets per hectare to a little over 2 million per acre, where it would be the other way around, I think. A hectare is a little over twice the size of an acre. :slight\_smile: Come se… --- ## [Re: Talking to Plants](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-talking-to-plants/274398)
**Author:** [@Roscoe\_Deadbeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roscoe_Deadbeat)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 20, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-talking-to-plants/274398 "2004-11-20T00:56:31Z")
In an old column \[Do plants grow better if you talk to them?19-Apr-1985\] which was included in the e-mail I got today, there was a lot of talk about music, and various frequencies of sound. No one however mentioned that… --- ## [Did Sherlock Holmes really exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sherlock-holmes-really-exist/251421)
**Author:** [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sherlock-holmes-really-exist/251421 "2004-11-19T23:32:36Z")
Maybe I’m about to be whooshed for missing the joke, but I noticed that in his response to “Did Sherlock Holmes really exist?” Dex wrote “Many authors bring Holmes into contact with real-life contemporary people, such as… --- ## [Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jefferson-hemings-dna-study/274769)
**Author:** [@herbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herbar)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jefferson-hemings-dna-study/274769 "2004-11-19T22:27:09Z")
Based upon media hype, have you had doubts about the sensational misinformation that came at you about the amateur Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study? Earlier posts by Mr. Adams explained the problems with assuming Thomas Jeffe… --- ## [What does the John 3:16 sign mean?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292)
**Author:** [@sermonresearch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sermonresearch)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292 "2004-11-19T06:36:35Z")
undefined Does anyone know if interviews were done where the general population was asked, “What does the John 3:16 sign mean that you see at sporting events?” I just wanted to get some answers to that question if anyo… --- ## [shrinkage](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681)
**Author:** [@jcmkl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcmkl)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinkage/274681 "2004-11-19T02:12:34Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpenis.html I think i have an answer to why Jill’s husband’s genitals shrink when he looks over a precipice or startled. It is not that Jill’s husband’s balls are easily scared and th… --- ## [Bernoulli's principle](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernoullis-principle/273459)
**Author:** [@volz0r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/volz0r)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [November 19, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bernoullis-principle/273459 "2004-11-19T01:41:08Z")
Hi, Cecil. I just wanted to point out, unfortunately with a lack of supporting evidence (hoping you can find it), that recently a book was published by some sort of aeronautics guy that explains why Bernoulli was wron… --- ## [Angels on the head of a pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin/275015)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 16, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin/275015 "2004-11-16T11:42:53Z")
In How many angels can dance on the head of a pin Cecil wrote: “I have not been able to turn up the text D’Israeli refers to (my 17th-century files are just a mess), but it sounds like the work of some would-be comedia… --- ## [Cinder Stanton's Reply to Mr. Adams on DNA Findings](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinder-stantons-reply-to-mr-adams-on-dna-findings/274793)
**Author:** [@herbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herbar)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 15, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinder-stantons-reply-to-mr-adams-on-dna-findings/274793 "2004-11-15T00:51:02Z")
Mr. Adams question of Cinder Stanton of Monticello was a fair one and deserved a truthful and precise reply of what the DNA Study actually proved. She could have easily told Mr. Adams that an African-American Chairperson… --- ## [Jefferson DNA Study Does NOT prove Thomas Jefferson the Father of Hemings and Woodson](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jefferson-dna-study-does-not-prove-thomas-jefferson-the-father-of-hemings-and-woodson/274779)
**Author:** [@herbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herbar)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 15, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jefferson-dna-study-does-not-prove-thomas-jefferson-the-father-of-hemings-and-woodson/274779 "2004-11-15T00:13:38Z")
To receive the latest up to date information regarding the Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study please click on www.angelfire.com/va/TJTruth and www.tjheritage.org. A blue ribbon panel of distinguished scholars formed a Scholars… --- ## [Moldy cheese and Gordon Jump](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moldy-cheese-and-gordon-jump/273183)
**Author:** [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Replies:** 13\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moldy-cheese-and-gordon-jump/273183 "2004-11-13T17:08:24Z")
Very nice column, Una, but one cannot invite Gordon Jump around for tea because he’s obtained the consistency of moldy cheese himself. (In other words, he’s dead.) --- ## ["Lorem Ipsum" - 2001-2-16](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lorem-ipsum-2001-2-16/94867)
**Author:** [@jiHymas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jiHymas)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 13, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lorem-ipsum-2001-2-16/94867 "2004-11-13T15:31:22Z")
This question has bothered me for years, but it was only after a graphic designer pasted some in some work for me (and then couldn’t explain it!) that I got serious about getting an answer. Thank you. I will now be able… --- ## [Shake your money, Maker.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shake-your-money-maker/273925)
**Author:** [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shake-your-money-maker/273925 "2004-11-12T17:36:10Z")
In regards to thatWhat makes blue cheese blue column, could I just ask this: Couldn’t I make Roquefort(style) cheese fairly easily with a rotten bucket of local milk, and a morsel of Genuine-Roquefort to infect it with … --- ## [ben franklin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-franklin/274342)
**Author:** [@danarmour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danarmour)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-franklin/274342 "2004-11-12T15:14:55Z")
in regards to your recent article about Ben Franklin, (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040820.html) i read/heard recently that a group of scientists had actually attepmted Franklin’s famous kite experiment and prove… --- ## [Sparks from Wintergreen Lifesavers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparks-from-wintergreen-lifesavers/274051)
**Author:** [@Engineer1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer1953)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sparks-from-wintergreen-lifesavers/274051 "2004-11-12T06:35:37Z")
Not only do Wintergreen Lifesavers cause sparks of visible light when you crunch them in your mouth, they also cause electromagnetic waves that cause perturbations in the image on your monitor if you eat them when seated… --- ## [Jumping Elephants](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumping-elephants/274314)
**Author:** [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jumping-elephants/274314 "2004-11-12T03:03:57Z")
Some years ago, I wrote a Straight Dope Staff Report called Can Elephants Jump? Shortly after that, my father, who is wont to refute me anywhere and everywhere, wrote a follow-up, Elephants Can Jump!" Guess what the n… --- ## [What's the most poisonous creature on earth?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022)
**Author:** [@soob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soob)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [November 12, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-poisonous-creature-on-earth/271022 "2004-11-12T01:35:35Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpoison.html “The “fierce snake” is probably just a variant name for one of the taipan species, made up by the folks producing the TV show. There is no such snake name in use anywhere… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=179) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=181)