# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=236 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 237 --- ## [Copyright map trap identified in Dallas](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-map-trap-identified-in-dallas/127396)
**Author:** [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [September 29, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-map-trap-identified-in-dallas/127396 "2002-09-29T20:05:43Z")
Cecil once wrote about “copyright traps,” nonexistent streets and such that mapmakers include so they can tell when somebody has copied their map without permission. Lo and behold, they just identified one right here in… --- ## [How high can dancer jump? - WTH!?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-dancer-jump-wth/128041)
**Author:** [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [September 27, 2002, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-high-can-dancer-jump-wth/128041 "2002-09-27T20:16:33Z")
This Cecil assertion statement is so old (circa 1978) I am putting it in GQ for discussion as it’s not really a current subject of SD research, but mods move if you must. According to a 24 year old Perfect Master state… --- ## [why don't all white people look alike? huh??](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-all-white-people-look-alike-huh/128753)
**Author:** [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [September 25, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-all-white-people-look-alike-huh/128753 "2002-09-25T16:54:23Z")
so someone asked why don’t all white people look alike. they have more physical variations than other races, bla bla bla etc. but i’m not so sure about that one. i look at black people and find some that are whiter than … --- ## [Pyrrhus in Aeneid?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pyrrhus-in-aeneid/129598)
**Author:** [@\_catharsis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_catharsis)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 25, 2002, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pyrrhus-in-aeneid/129598 "2002-09-25T13:48:01Z")
This article gives almost the same definition of a Pyrrhic victory as had always been given to me, but not quite…what interests me is that it arrives there by a totally different route. As the character here predates my … --- ## [More amusing stories about Pyrrhus](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-amusing-stories-about-pyrrhus/129559)
**Author:** [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 25, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-amusing-stories-about-pyrrhus/129559 "2002-09-25T03:07:41Z")
Reading Ken’s article on Pyrrhus reminded me of the delightful Pyrrhus article from History House. I absolutely love History House and the Pyrrhus article is one of the most memorable (plus you get to find out what hap… --- ## [Preserving my name for posterity](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-my-name-for-posterity/129463)
**Author:** [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 25, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/preserving-my-name-for-posterity/129463 "2002-09-25T00:58:32Z")
In this column http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_385.html we learn from Cecil that the “International Star Registry” is basically a scam. But instead of a star, what if I wanted a species of plant or animal named … --- ## [Pyrrhus travels backward in time?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pyrrhus-travels-backward-in-time/129479)
**Author:** [@Satyagrahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satyagrahi)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 25, 2002, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pyrrhus-travels-backward-in-time/129479 "2002-09-25T00:07:25Z")
In the SD Staff Report posted 9/24/02: Did Pyrrhus master time travel or is this a misprint? --- ## [corn...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn/129365)
**Author:** [@mandielise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandielise)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [September 24, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corn/129365 "2002-09-24T19:36:42Z")
Ok, so it might not belong here, but this column just reminded me of when I was in Switzerland. I was staying with a friend and his family who told me that before coming to the United States, they would never eat corn … --- ## [Did the Romans Eat Spaghetti ?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-romans-eat-spaghetti/129354)
**Author:** [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 23, 2002, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-romans-eat-spaghetti/129354 "2002-09-23T22:42:05Z")
I refer to Cecil’s column http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_102.html which had a throw-away line about the Romans of Claudius’s time eating pasta. I thought spaghetti wasn’t seriously taken up by the Romans until … --- ## [groggy after oversleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groggy-after-oversleeping/129217)
**Author:** [@Boinkshank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boinkshank)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 23, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/groggy-after-oversleeping/129217 "2002-09-23T02:27:27Z")
In the article about over sleeping (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990205.html) Cecil said that it was pretty much a myth that people got groggy from too much sleep. But I read somewhere that there is a lot of evi… --- ## [I Know Who Invented Pi](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-who-invented-pi/128955)
**Author:** [@resin8er42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/resin8er42)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 22, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-who-invented-pi/128955 "2002-09-22T18:20:13Z")
I thought this one was obvious. The man who invented pi was one of the members of King Arthur’s Court. He was the one who invented the roud table, Sir Cumference. :smiley: --- ## [Guardian criticizes SD Moon Hoax article](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guardian-criticizes-sd-moon-hoax-article/128311)
**Author:** [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [September 21, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guardian-criticizes-sd-moon-hoax-article/128311 "2002-09-21T02:30:19Z")
This is a head’s up from John Hatpin, on the usenet board alt.fan.cecil-adams. Stuart Jeffries makes a serious mistake in his 9/13/2002 Guardian column, where it seems he believes the Straight Dope defends the moon hoax… --- ## [The Space Station Grounding Problem](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-space-station-grounding-problem/127861)
**Author:** [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [September 20, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-space-station-grounding-problem/127861 "2002-09-20T20:21:01Z")
Fine and good, in a well-made circuit, there’s no need for a ground, as there is little danger of too much energy being suddenly delivered. But can every single one of the millions of circuits on that giant mass of tube… --- ## [Seeing the Great Wall From Space](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-the-great-wall-from-space/128830)
**Author:** [@Apple\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apple_guy)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 20, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-the-great-wall-from-space/128830 "2002-09-20T16:20:02Z")
Cecil’s Great Wall Classic Column Ignorance amazes me, as I am sure Cecil is amazed almost every day. What amazes me even more is the difficulty in squashing it. People just really don’t like knowing they are wrong. … --- ## [Racial differences, skin tones, and Scientific American](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-differences-skin-tones-and-scientific-american/128745)
**Author:** [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 20, 2002, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-differences-skin-tones-and-scientific-american/128745 "2002-09-20T06:23:35Z")
Considering Cecil’s two most recent classic columns on racial differences, I just thought it interesting to note that this month’s issue of Scientific American, hitting subscribers’ mailboxes now, has an article on the e… --- ## [SD Classic: re Male Nipples](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520)
**Author:** [@Andertroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andertroid)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [September 20, 2002, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sd-classic-re-male-nipples/126520 "2002-09-20T06:18:46Z")
The SD staff provided the writer with an excellent explanation of why males have nipples that are not (genetically) intended to peroduce the same results as those of females. The article dealt with similar issues of mal… --- ## [Cecils view on the demise of vinyl](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-view-on-the-demise-of-vinyl/128589)
**Author:** [@mistercuts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistercuts)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 16, 2002, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-view-on-the-demise-of-vinyl/128589 "2002-09-16T07:13:07Z")
hi there Cecil, I think you’ve got it slightly wrong with regards to the death of the vinyl record. OK, you didn’t say death; I think it was “decline”. My dear father runs a record pressing plant here in the UK and I … --- ## [Not so fast, plant arsonists](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-plant-arsonists/128500)
**Author:** [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 16, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-so-fast-plant-arsonists/128500 "2002-09-16T05:13:38Z")
The Cecil column on spontaneous combustion in plants contains one reference that is, at best, a gross exaggeration. It states that when you hold a match up to blooms of Dictamnus albus (the “gas plant”), the volatile oi… --- ## [No Such Thing As Snuff Films? Explain this:](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-snuff-films-explain-this/126549)
**Author:** [@SJT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SJT)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [September 16, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-snuff-films-explain-this/126549 "2002-09-16T03:01:15Z")
here is where you claim they dont exist: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_258.html but here I found something which can only be labled, ‘Snuff’: --- ## [men falling asleep after sex](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-falling-asleep-after-sex/128622)
**Author:** [@misterbuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misterbuster)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 16, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-falling-asleep-after-sex/128622 "2002-09-16T02:27:36Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_183.html The above column says that men don’t fall asleep after sex. However, I know from experience that I do fall asleep immediately after sex. In fact, I have just woken up f… --- ## [serotinous](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serotinous/128295)
**Author:** [@jjaandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjaandi)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [September 15, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serotinous/128295 "2002-09-15T15:24:43Z")
The definition of serotinous is “late blooming,” as in Prunus Serotina, the wild cherry tree which flowers later than its relatives. In the column on self-immolation of plants, Cecil thinks the word has something t… --- ## [Pizza in America](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-in-america/126821)
**Author:** [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [September 15, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pizza-in-america/126821 "2002-09-15T03:35:49Z")
The Staff Report on who invented pizza straight-facedly claimed that Americans were first introduced to this wonderful food in 1950. Didn’t Pizzeria Uno open shop in Chicao over 50m years before that? When I broached a… --- ## [supernumerary ribs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernumerary-ribs/127084)
**Author:** [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 14, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supernumerary-ribs/127084 "2002-09-14T19:42:14Z")
From the Classics column Do women have an extra rib cuz Eve got one of Adam’s? I was surprised there was no mention of cervical ribs. Ribs form the shape of the thorax, and normally each rib articulates with a corresp… --- ## [Trepanation...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475)
**Author:** [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [September 14, 2002, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trepanation/127475 "2002-09-14T11:02:37Z")
…a word just waiting to be misused by Dubya. \[quoteInvading another foreign country is a matter for great trepanation. Now watch this putt!\[/quote\] :rolleyes: --- ## ["let them eat cake"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-them-eat-cake/126038)
**Author:** [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-them-eat-cake/126038 "2002-09-12T22:00:26Z")
Did Marie Antoinette really say “let them eat cake”? Lady Antonia Fraser spoke about her new bio of Marie Antoinette at the Edinburgh Book Festival. http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm\_657574.html?menu= This… --- ## [Adam's rib and Sumerian deities](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adams-rib-and-sumerian-deities/127072)
**Author:** [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [September 12, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adams-rib-and-sumerian-deities/127072 "2002-09-12T00:52:59Z")
In the classics column Do women have an extra rib cuz Eve got one of Adam’s?, Cecil mentions the Sumerian deities Enki and Ninhursag: Great reference, given that most people don’t know how many of the Old Testament sto… --- ## [Monumental nitpick about the wrongness of His Cecilship on a totally peripheral issue](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monumental-nitpick-about-the-wrongness-of-his-cecilship-on-a-totally-peripheral-issue/127131)
**Author:** [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [September 11, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monumental-nitpick-about-the-wrongness-of-his-cecilship-on-a-totally-peripheral-issue/127131 "2002-09-11T21:05:44Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_095b.html Merriam-Webster online: An airplane wing is not a ship’s body. A “spar” is part of the mast-and-rigging assembly. http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/shipwrecks/glossary.h… --- ## [Did a French vaudeville star once specialize in trained flatulence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-french-vaudeville-star-once-specialize-in-trained-flatulence/126066)
**Author:** [@JRP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRP)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2002, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-french-vaudeville-star-once-specialize-in-trained-flatulence/126066 "2002-09-10T11:17:45Z")
Regarding the art of Flatulism, I remember a self styled Flatulist called Mr Methane, touring the country recently. I did a quick search to find any extra information and turned up his website which I thought may be of i… --- ## [Recording media - http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020816.html](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-media-http-www-straightdope-com-columns-020816-html/124167)
**Author:** [@coolestwhiteboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coolestwhiteboy)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2002, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recording-media-http-www-straightdope-com-columns-020816-html/124167 "2002-09-10T06:51:51Z")
If microfilm is itty bitty recording stuff, can large or very large messages be considered “macrofilm”? --- ## [the lowly potato and french cuisine](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowly-potato-and-french-cuisine/127075)
**Author:** [@pufnstuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pufnstuff)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [September 10, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowly-potato-and-french-cuisine/127075 "2002-09-10T03:23:40Z")
Being both a sometime practicer of the culinary arts and a modest french speaker, I thought I had to correct you on one point. A little elemantary research might yield that the potato in french is the pomme de terre. I … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=235) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=237)