# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=209 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 210 --- ## [Cheerleader dry ice incident](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerleader-dry-ice-incident/196578)
**Author:** [@skeptic53](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skeptic53)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 26, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerleader-dry-ice-incident/196578 "2003-08-26T22:37:36Z")
re: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdryice.html I read the report about dry ice, surprised that something so mundane made it to the daily top spot. I remembered a news report from here in the Northwest from some … --- ## [Steve Miller/The Joker lyrics](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-miller-the-joker-lyrics/197575)
**Author:** [@pegger51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pegger51)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-miller-the-joker-lyrics/197575 "2003-08-25T20:52:52Z")
I always thought he was singing “the pompousness of love” but it came out pmpetus of love because he goofed up the pronounciation! --- ## [Creating Dry Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-dry-ice/197309)
**Author:** [@mindputty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mindputty)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-dry-ice/197309 "2003-08-25T17:36:49Z")
The Dry Ice article was very informative and interesting. However, it still remains to be asked - how exactly is Dry Ice created? Do you simply take a bunch of CO2 floating around in a box and make it really cold - at wh… --- ## [Update on the Alamo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/update-on-the-alamo/197327)
**Author:** [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 25, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/update-on-the-alamo/197327 "2003-08-25T06:41:47Z")
In http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_104.html, you made the comment “When it was all over, seven captured defenders, including Davy Crockett, were brought before Santa Anna. He ordered them killed, …” \[URL in prec… --- ## [RE: Why is visible light visible, but not other parts of the spectrum?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-visible-light-visible-but-not-other-parts-of-the-spectrum/195061)
**Author:** [@Nim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nim)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-visible-light-visible-but-not-other-parts-of-the-spectrum/195061 "2003-08-24T23:26:56Z")
POST: Why is visible light visible, but not other parts of the spectrum? QUOTE: “If your light-sensing organ is sensitive to some band of radiation that is, say, only half as intense as the visible band, then come dusk,… --- ## [centripetal, centrifugal, oy!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centripetal-centrifugal-oy/196976)
**Author:** [@MotherMary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MotherMary)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centripetal-centrifugal-oy/196976 "2003-08-24T21:41:57Z")
I have no particular background in physics, which is probably why I found Chronos’s explanation of the artificial “gravity” found on spinning space stations totally confusing. As near as I can make out, Chronos told us … --- ## [rotating space station](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotating-space-station/196943)
**Author:** [@parody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parody)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rotating-space-station/196943 "2003-08-24T17:33:35Z")
Rotating space station and artificial gravity Quote: I think we can appeal to simple angular momentum (AM) conservation. AM is mass x spin radius x spin velocity. When standing on the inside surface of what I presum… --- ## [Sublimation in reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sublimation-in-reverse/196320)
**Author:** [@CADOp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CADOp)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sublimation-in-reverse/196320 "2003-08-24T17:12:19Z")
I’ve noticed something strange - chemists can’t seem to agree on what to call the process of a gas becoming a solid without passing through the liquid phase. Several dictionaries I’ve consulted say that’s called sublimat… --- ## [Princes/ses](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princes-ses/197081)
**Author:** [@bronto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bronto)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 24, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/princes-ses/197081 "2003-08-24T07:08:16Z")
This column from 1976 contains an inaccuracy or two. It is true that rarely has England’s heir apparent succeeded to the throne without having previously been created Prince of Wales (other exceptions according to my s… --- ## ["Louie Louie"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louie-louie/19010)
**Author:** [@2fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2fs)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/louie-louie/19010 "2003-08-23T21:36:21Z")
Cecil notes that Richard Berry’s actual lyrics to “Louie Louie” are hardly obscene, and none too brilliant either. He could have added “derivative”: much of the situation and even the dialect humor is derived from that o… --- ## [Chomsky obliterates Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chomsky-obliterates-skinner/196859)
**Author:** [@jonr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonr)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chomsky-obliterates-skinner/196859 "2003-08-23T18:35:31Z")
I found this message board while looking for a way to let Cecil know he had not done his usual first rate job in his column about the fate of B.F. Skinner. I hope this is in the right place to post it. Skinner and beha… --- ## [Who Wrote Flash Gordon's Music?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wrote-flash-gordons-music/197137)
**Author:** [@Herb\_Twoleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herb_Twoleaf)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [August 23, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wrote-flash-gordons-music/197137 "2003-08-23T14:18:48Z")
Franz Liszt died in 1886, Cecil. I think Franz Waxman is who you meant? He composed 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein” for Universal, and they recycled it in '36 for “Flash”. --- ## [Moon Landing Hoax](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-landing-hoax/195975)
**Author:** [@magicman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magicman)\ **Replies:** 74\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-landing-hoax/195975 "2003-08-22T22:46:01Z")
I used to be happy with the explanation that man went to the moon, but then I started hearing stories of a hoax, I looked into it more on the inter and I was shocked to discover that there is an overwhelming amout of ev… --- ## [How come Europeans dominated the rest of the world and not vice versa?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-europeans-dominated-the-rest-of-the-world-and-not-vice-versa/194068)
**Author:** [@Itai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itai)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-europeans-dominated-the-rest-of-the-world-and-not-vice-versa/194068 "2003-08-22T20:49:31Z")
In a column (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a970620.html) of the same title as the subject of this thread, Cecil makes a statement often made, erroneously so in my humble opinion. Speaking for Europeans, he takes p… --- ## [Problem with the tire inflation theory](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-with-the-tire-inflation-theory/196767)
**Author:** [@Falcon5768](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon5768)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/problem-with-the-tire-inflation-theory/196767 "2003-08-22T14:07:53Z")
The link The problem with telling people to put in the recommended amount of air for the tire is that its not neccisarily the recomended amount of air for that vehicle. Take for example the recent fun that was the Fire… --- ## [Exploding dry ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-dry-ice/195383)
**Author:** [@prefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prefect)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-dry-ice/195383 "2003-08-22T13:39:21Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdryice.html As of right now, you are my favorite person in the world. --- ## [How did they mass produce those old cylinder records?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-mass-produce-those-old-cylinder-records/196894)
**Author:** [@jeffkopp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeffkopp)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-they-mass-produce-those-old-cylinder-records/196894 "2003-08-22T11:03:19Z")
How did they mass produce those old cylinder records? I’ve been told that before the phonograph, popular musical pieces were longer (dance tunes lasted 5-7 minutes) and became shortened to around 3 only to fit onto Edis… --- ## [Cecil is revising his old columns!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-is-revising-his-old-columns/194160)
**Author:** [@BigLug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigLug)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [August 22, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-is-revising-his-old-columns/194160 "2003-08-22T09:24:22Z")
“This would indeed fit under a desk, and I confess in moments of irritation I felt that if Ron had sat down at that desk, the whole country would have been a lot better off.” The original line didn’t say “I confess in m… --- ## [Skinner and the Rabble Criiters](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skinner-and-the-rabble-criiters/196696)
**Author:** [@nweissma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nweissma)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skinner-and-the-rabble-criiters/196696 "2003-08-21T20:03:53Z")
Re Cecil’s recent BF Skinner article: “Skinner discovered a great many subtleties…training is most effective not when behavior A always produces reward X , but when it does so only intrermittently - the critter won’t gi… --- ## [Water sublimation](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-sublimation/196257)
**Author:** [@Ol\_Blue\_Eyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Blue_Eyes)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-sublimation/196257 "2003-08-21T20:02:36Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdryice.html If water doesn’t sublimate until 0.006 atmospheres, then why do ice cubes get smaller in the freezer over time and how does snow accumulation lessen on a cold (freezing),… --- ## [baby-in-microwave part 2](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-in-microwave-part-2/194949)
**Author:** [@DoctorMelkor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorMelkor)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-in-microwave-part-2/194949 "2003-08-21T16:24:31Z")
Dear Cecil, I know I am a little late in bringing this up, as the woman inquestion has served pretty much her whole sentence by now, but I am very concerned about the quoted prosector’s statements regarding the mother’s… --- ## [Nuclear waste transport laws...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-waste-transport-laws/196511)
**Author:** [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [August 20, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-waste-transport-laws/196511 "2003-08-20T23:49:48Z")
In the latest reissue of an old Cecil column, the one on nuclear waste disposal,he references an Illinois proposal to exclude nuclear waste import from any states that wouldn’t reciprocate. The column was written in 198… --- ## [CO2 Not Just an Asphxiant](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/co2-not-just-an-asphxiant/196245)
**Author:** [@cjclark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjclark)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2003, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/co2-not-just-an-asphxiant/196245 "2003-08-21T11:50:54Z")
In her report, What exactly is dry ice?, Karen says, CO2 is actually toxic. It is not just dangerous because it can displace air (and therefore oxygen), like nitrogen, argon, methane, etc. The body regulates respiratio… --- ## [To save energy, should you turn lights off or leave them on?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-save-energy-should-you-turn-lights-off-or-leave-them-on/192707)
**Author:** [@aadenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aadenny)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-save-energy-should-you-turn-lights-off-or-leave-them-on/192707 "2003-08-21T04:22:36Z")
Cecil’s classic post from 1980 has been revisted in the daily email. ( http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_249.html ) It occurs to me that he missed out one energy-saving aspect. This is that there is an energy an… --- ## [The whole nine yards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/195986)
**Author:** [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [August 21, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-whole-nine-yards/195986 "2003-08-21T03:27:54Z")
In San Diego the local NPR show “A Way With Words” said the term “the whole nine yards” came from cement trucks as put forth in the SD column. They also had some additional information. They said the print citations for … --- ## [Virgin birth](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-birth/187820)
**Author:** [@GodSka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GodSka)\ **Replies:** 31\ **Last updated:** [August 20, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-birth/187820 "2003-08-20T20:55:29Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_223.html Cecil said that there has been one instance of virgin birth, which I assume was the Blessed Virgin Mary…but I remember hearing about a Civil War soldier who was shot in t… --- ## [Dangers of Cosmic Rays](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangers-of-cosmic-rays/195150)
**Author:** [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [August 19, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangers-of-cosmic-rays/195150 "2003-08-19T15:35:30Z")
I recall there was a documented case in 1962 of some proto-space explorers who were bombarded by cosmic rays. They affected them each in entirely different ways: it caused one of them to spontaneously combust, another’s … --- ## [Tipping](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/190605)
**Author:** [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Replies:** 97\ **Last updated:** [August 19, 2003, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tipping/190605 "2003-08-19T12:01:26Z")
In this column about tipping the question of alchohol rears its head again. I don’t care about tax, but I have always included the booze in my tips. Why not? If I were to sit at the bar, I would tip whoever served me … --- ## [Stonehenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge/193838)
**Author:** [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Replies:** 46\ **Last updated:** [August 19, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stonehenge/193838 "2003-08-19T05:21:04Z")
The Staff Report What’s the real story on Stonehenge? by guest contributor Antiquarian reminded me of a bit piece in some Steve Martin Special. “Did the Dinosaurs Build Stonehenge?” Best part of that bit: “Stonehenge … --- ## [Nuclear Disaster Survival Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-disaster-survival-kit/195127)
**Author:** [@braintree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/braintree)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [August 18, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-disaster-survival-kit/195127 "2003-08-18T13:47:48Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_239a.html Cecil’s column on potassium iodide pills got me thinking. Let’s say, just for fun, that some very enthusiastic Muslims were to crash an airplane into the Indian Point nu… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=208) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=210)