# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=30 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 31 --- ## [Present and Future Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/present-and-future-cats/714351)
**Author:** [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 6, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/present-and-future-cats/714351 "2015-03-06T16:47:47Z")
Cecil in his characteristic anti-Feline hit-piece says cats are limited to the present. The fact of cats as apex predators surviving over thousands to millions of years says otherwise. They only have survived because… --- ## [Will Driverless Cars cost more that they're worth?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-driverless-cars-cost-more-that-theyre-worth/713213)
**Author:** [@jamessurratt55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jamessurratt55)\ **Replies:** 102\ **Last updated:** [March 6, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-driverless-cars-cost-more-that-theyre-worth/713213 "2015-03-06T16:31:07Z")
Don’t forget that the driverless car phenomena will not occur overnight. Besides it will be evolving constantly as technology keeps changing. Cars will talk to each other. Eventually pile-ups may become a thing of the pa… --- ## [Okay, someone's gotta ask about candirú fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-someones-gotta-ask-about-candiru-fish/714321)
**Author:** [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 6, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-someones-gotta-ask-about-candiru-fish/714321 "2015-03-06T12:09:52Z")
The question is this: What is the evolutionary advantage of a fish that does this? In the case history documented here, the fish died. Was that just a “fluke” incident? Or, in fact, is the interior of the male human … --- ## [Handling baby birds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handling-baby-birds/714133)
**Author:** [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 4, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handling-baby-birds/714133 "2015-03-04T16:26:35Z")
Inspired by thsi column: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2287/if-you-handle-baby-birds-will-their-parents-shun-them If mommy and daddy birds shunned eggs or babies that don’t smell familiar, cowbirds and cucko… --- ## [Vox-dot-com cites Cecil on mad rapist dolphins!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vox-dot-com-cites-cecil-on-mad-rapist-dolphins/713448)
**Author:** [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 4, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vox-dot-com-cites-cecil-on-mad-rapist-dolphins/713448 "2015-03-04T03:57:31Z")
Article today (2/23/2015) at vox-dot-com cites Cecil on mad rapist dolphins! 7 adorable animals that are also murderous monsters, Dylan Matthews, Feb. 23, 2015 --- ## [Whose face is on the $1,000 bill?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-face-is-on-the-1-000-bill/713626)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [March 2, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-face-is-on-the-1-000-bill/713626 "2015-03-02T16:06:54Z")
Div didn’t even mention the 1934 Woodrow Wilson $100,000 bills. Interesting Wiki article: Large denominations of United States currency - Wikipedia Chase’s title was also Chief Justice of the United States; he wasn’t… --- ## [Downshifting vs braking on a stick-shift car - ze French perspective](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downshifting-vs-braking-on-a-stick-shift-car-ze-french-perspective/713185)
**Author:** [@malinza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malinza)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [February 28, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/downshifting-vs-braking-on-a-stick-shift-car-ze-french-perspective/713185 "2015-02-28T04:15:35Z")
Article here: To slow a stick-shift car, should you brake or downshift? Here in France, where most cars are of the stick-shift variety (I’ve read automatic cars represent less than 15 % of the sales), the « downshifting… --- ## [Are old "SD Classics" being sanitized?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-old-sd-classics-being-sanitized/713309)
**Author:** [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [February 27, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-old-sd-classics-being-sanitized/713309 "2015-02-27T17:06:17Z")
To wit, this article: Do you know a guaranteed love charm recipe? - The Straight Dope now reads, in part: \[QUOTE=2015 Cecil\] (7) Breathe on charm, charge with air. Charge basically means recite more incantations. If I … --- ## [Lightning Rods](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-rods/713662)
**Author:** [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [February 26, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-rods/713662 "2015-02-26T18:34:58Z")
ref: Do-lightning-rods-really-work Realizing I am responding to a classic, and maybe a zombie thread, my father owned a static generator which had belonged to a traveling lightning rod salesman. It had a set of houses … --- ## [Year-numbering System](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/year-numbering-system/711961)
**Author:** [@DHBirren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DHBirren)\ **Replies:** 37\ **Last updated:** [February 26, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/year-numbering-system/711961 "2015-02-26T02:35:34Z")
Regarding What year numbering system was used in the time of Christ? - The Straight Dope, from which the following is excerpted: The Christian system of year numbering was invented in what we now know as AD 525 by a mon… --- ## ["Guinness is made in Ireland"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-is-made-in-ireland/712701)
**Author:** [@straight\_doped](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_doped)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [February 25, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guinness-is-made-in-ireland/712701 "2015-02-25T01:54:40Z")
It is also made in “almost” 49 other countries. “GUINNESS® beer is available in well over 100 countries worldwide and is brewed in almost 50. As of June 30, 2004, the biggest-selling markets for GUINNESS® stout were (… --- ## [Roman numerals](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roman-numerals/711983)
**Author:** [@Viseguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viseguy)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [February 24, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roman-numerals/711983 "2015-02-24T06:18:34Z")
I enjoyed SD Classic #1 (02/23/1990) on Roman numerals. No wonder Rome fell. This – the column, not the fall of Rome – got me searching for online Roman numeral conversion facilities. Google has one (e.g., “999 in roman… --- ## [Spontaneous Human Combustion in the 21st Century](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-combustion-in-the-21st-century/712966)
**Author:** [@cahutchins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cahutchins)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [February 21, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-human-combustion-in-the-21st-century/712966 "2015-02-21T21:57:09Z")
The SD 1979 classic regarding spontaneous human combustion was referenced in today’s column (short answer: it’s not supernatural, an immobile or deeply unconscious person can catch fire from an external source, turn into… --- ## [Why does the alarm clock snooze button give you nine extra minutes, not ten?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-alarm-clock-snooze-button-give-you-nine-extra-minutes-not-ten/710669)
**Author:** [@Helianthus71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helianthus71)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [February 21, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-alarm-clock-snooze-button-give-you-nine-extra-minutes-not-ten/710669 "2015-02-21T16:19:14Z")
I think the practice originates with the first digital clocks. (This should be verified.) Such clocks stored each digit separately (a practice called Binary-Coded Decimal). If you want to set a snooze alarm in 9 minutes,… --- ## [Don McLean Speaks Out (American Pie)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-mclean-speaks-out-american-pie/408733)
**Author:** [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Replies:** 55\ **Last updated:** [February 18, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-mclean-speaks-out-american-pie/408733 "2015-02-18T03:52:08Z")
Don McLean has broken his supposed “silence” on the issue of the lyrics. Don McLean’s official website on American Pie. Not that he is very explicit in his statements. This is in regards to Cecil’s column, reposted to… --- ## [Question on Cecil's Column - Bar codes on envelopes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-cecils-column-bar-codes-on-envelopes/691449)
**Author:** [@call\_me\_AJ\_short\_4\_AndrewJOHN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/call_me_AJ_short_4_AndrewJOHN)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [February 13, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-cecils-column-bar-codes-on-envelopes/691449 "2015-02-13T22:50:20Z")
Thanks for the column on bar codes and FIM Face Identifying Marks on return mail envelopes provide by our creditors and others. I would like to insert this valuable information into a more recent mail and paying our bil… --- ## [personal information and mobile apps](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-information-and-mobile-apps/712008)
**Author:** [@HenryG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryG)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-information-and-mobile-apps/712008 "2015-02-12T00:49:52Z")
As a taste of things to come, consider the position in Oztraya. The government there abolished free speech (Section 18C of the Race Discrimination Act 1975) and is now seeking bipartisan support for legislation to force … --- ## [Origin of '86'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-86/711072)
**Author:** [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [February 12, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-86/711072 "2015-02-12T00:43:22Z")
Snopes says it was never a food-service term. Some quibble about what it originally meant. --- ## [The shower curtain question](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shower-curtain-question/711920)
**Author:** [@bcfd36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcfd36)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shower-curtain-question/711920 "2015-02-11T18:53:45Z")
I cannot comment on the science of the question, but I can comment on what happens with large quantities of spraying water. By trade I am a software engineer and that doesn’t do much to shed any light on the issue. But I… --- ## [Frank Sinatra 4F Status](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-sinatra-4f-status/712352)
**Author:** [@spike100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spike100)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [February 11, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-sinatra-4f-status/712352 "2015-02-11T03:55:44Z")
Sinatra was born at home by his grandmother, not by a doctor as is stated on your site. He almost died, he was born not breathing and she held him under running cold water till he finally cried. --- ## [What happened to vitamins F, G, H, I, and J?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-vitamins-f-g-h-i-and-j/710811)
**Author:** [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Replies:** 16\ **Last updated:** [February 9, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-vitamins-f-g-h-i-and-j/710811 "2015-02-09T04:04:20Z")
I’m reminded of a passage from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, when Willie Wonka proposes a plan for un-shrinking Mike Teavee: --- ## [I think this article isnt a good answer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-this-article-isnt-a-good-answer/711771)
**Author:** [@ebayebay444](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebayebay444)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [February 4, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-this-article-isnt-a-good-answer/711771 "2015-02-04T00:02:08Z")
They made the weather glass on their own. They sell on eBay for 10 bucks. I wish theyd use one of those to see if they really work. --- ## [The Straight Dope obtains its 42nd anniversary](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-obtains-its-42nd-anniversary/711591)
**Author:** [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [February 3, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-straight-dope-obtains-its-42nd-anniversary/711591 "2015-02-03T22:46:05Z")
42 years ago today, on February 2, 1973, Cecil Adams – who sprang forth fully-formed from the forehead of original editor Michael Lenehan – appeared in print for the first time, in the debut The Straight Dope column, and… --- ## [Why is the sky dark at night?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sky-dark-at-night/709346)
**Author:** [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Replies:** 133\ **Last updated:** [February 2, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-sky-dark-at-night/709346 "2015-02-02T21:55:58Z")
Why is the sky dark at night? Cecil missed the big reason why the sky is dark at night: The redshift. First, the farthest stars we can see are 13 billion light years away which is about the same time the Universe formed… --- ## [Why were midcentury futurist predictions — like flying cars — so wrong?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-midcentury-futurist-predictions-like-flying-cars-so-wrong/705675)
**Author:** [@HakunaK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HakunaK)\ **Replies:** 35\ **Last updated:** [January 30, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-were-midcentury-futurist-predictions-like-flying-cars-so-wrong/705675 "2015-01-30T03:38:48Z")
Cecil, In the thread Why were midcentury futurist predictions — like flying cars — so wrong?, you said: I think the oil thing will be irrelevant, once people wake up and properly harness solar or geothermal power. Now… --- ## [Revenge of the Sidis](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revenge-of-the-sidis/710999)
**Author:** [@waddlingeagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waddlingeagle)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 29, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/revenge-of-the-sidis/710999 "2015-01-29T03:04:53Z")
It looks to me like Sidis simply burned out. He took an obscure job as a bookkeeper because he craved obscurity. He realized that he didn’t have to do anything else. It seems to me that one of the hardest things a smart… --- ## [South Side is the Poor Side](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-side-is-the-poor-side/710287)
**Author:** [@owolfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owolfe)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [January 27, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-side-is-the-poor-side/710287 "2015-01-27T03:47:18Z")
The legend I have heard about Chicago is that the prevailing winds are from the North and the rich folks didn’t want to live downwind of the stockyards. Ergo they took the Northern land and left the downwind land to the … --- ## [Are the poor better off now than they were 50 years ago?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-poor-better-off-now-than-they-were-50-years-ago/706393)
**Author:** [@Charmbrights](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charmbrights)\ **Replies:** 91\ **Last updated:** [January 22, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-poor-better-off-now-than-they-were-50-years-ago/706393 "2015-01-22T22:47:55Z")
The concept of poverty is wholly relative and the pundits and politicos do not help by lying about the relative values of currencies. All children in the USA can go to school. In many other countries that costs money. … --- ## [Does Reflexology Really Work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-reflexology-really-work/710306)
**Author:** [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [January 21, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-reflexology-really-work/710306 "2015-01-21T20:06:20Z")
An excellent article, Bricker, on the above topic, posted today. However, it is seriously marred by the advertising accompanying the article, at least for the time I viewed it, providing a click-on ad for Powerful Heali… --- ## [Did medieval scholars argue over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-medieval-scholars-argue-over-how-many-angels-could-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin/710179)
**Author:** [@pfk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pfk2)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 19, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-medieval-scholars-argue-over-how-many-angels-could-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin/710179 "2015-01-19T02:33:44Z")
Did medieval scholars argue over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin? How could Cecil, writing in 1988, have known that Martinus Scriblerus would be available gratis on Google Books, when Sergey Brin wouldn… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=31)