# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=37 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 38 --- ## [How did autism become the latest fad disorder?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-autism-become-the-latest-fad-disorder/684909)
**Author:** [@padebafey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/padebafey)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [April 11, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-autism-become-the-latest-fad-disorder/684909 "2014-04-11T23:30:21Z")
I don’t know which was more uninformed/offensive…the question or the answer. Clearly, there’s a very good reason it’s taking longer to fight ignorance than you thought. --- ## [Does sex make men sleepy?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sex-make-men-sleepy/684960)
**Author:** [@BCDeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BCDeb)\ **Replies:** 19\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sex-make-men-sleepy/684960 "2014-04-09T14:36:02Z")
I mean, obviously… It makes women sleepy, too. It is just the release and relaxation that results from orgasm. Do we really need research on this? LINK TO COLUMN: Why do men feel sleepy after sex? - The Straight Dop… --- ## [If Teflon is nonsticky, how do they get it to stick to the pan?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-teflon-is-nonsticky-how-do-they-get-it-to-stick-to-the-pan/685634)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 9, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-teflon-is-nonsticky-how-do-they-get-it-to-stick-to-the-pan/685634 "2014-04-09T14:34:18Z")
The 1995 column; couldn’t find a previous thread about it: If Teflon is nonsticky, how do they get it to stick to the pan? - The Straight Dope A sentence in the third paragraph has a surplus word: “This primer, like mos… --- ## [Are competeing explanations for twice daily tides mathematically equivalent?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-competeing-explanations-for-twice-daily-tides-mathematically-equivalent/685596)
**Author:** [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 8, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-competeing-explanations-for-twice-daily-tides-mathematically-equivalent/685596 "2014-04-08T22:00:08Z")
Are the “Difffering distance” and the “Centrifugal Force” explanations for twice daily tides mathematically equivalent? My intuition tells me that they ought to be if they are both valid (and I know that Cecil gave th… --- ## [Celebrity Rocker Model Railroaders - from 'Issac Newton Inventing the Cat Door'](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-rocker-model-railroaders-from-issac-newton-inventing-the-cat-door/685356)
**Author:** [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [April 8, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-rocker-model-railroaders-from-issac-newton-inventing-the-cat-door/685356 "2014-04-08T14:14:27Z")
Completely blowing off the point of Cecil’s April 4 2014 Column “Did Issac Newton Invent the Cat Door”, as a modeler I focused on the section beginning with: “my favorite celebrity inventor remains Neil Young, whose name… --- ## [Holy Grail, Batman! I've found it!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-batman-ive-found-it/685129)
**Author:** [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 5, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-batman-ive-found-it/685129 "2014-04-05T04:23:07Z")
Today’s Straight Dope Column: What is the Holy Grail? (Orig. pub. April 4, 2003) now comes with an added footnote: This, and the New York Daily News article linked, are whooshes, right? Something about the linked art… --- ## [Dryer Sheets](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-sheets/684734)
**Author:** [@lesizz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesizz)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dryer-sheets/684734 "2014-04-01T14:01:40Z")
Besides lubricant, there are a lot of toxics in dryer sheets, from respiratory irritants to carcinogens: LINK TO COLUMN: How do dryer antistatic sheets work? - The Straight Dope --- ## [Viruses in the ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viruses-in-the-ice/684760)
**Author:** [@psythe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psythe)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viruses-in-the-ice/684760 "2014-04-01T13:53:51Z")
Original question One downside of being locked up in the ice for thousands of years, if you’re a virus, is that your host’s immune system will go on evolving without you. Yes, it might lose the ability to quickly rec… --- ## [disease du jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disease-du-jour/684248)
**Author:** [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Replies:** 39\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disease-du-jour/684248 "2014-03-29T14:57:12Z")
Personally if I had to choose an over diagnosed fashionable disease it would be celiac disease which of late seems to be caused by being a Prius driving yuppie. I can’t tell you how many people I run into lately who’ve s… --- ## [Fake towns and roads on maps](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-towns-and-roads-on-maps/684828)
**Author:** [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [March 29, 2014, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-towns-and-roads-on-maps/684828 "2014-03-29T11:22:07Z")
Cecil wrote about this back in 1991: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1058/do-maps-have-copyright-traps-to-permit-detection-of-unauthorized-copies There must have been long-ago discussion, that got picked up an… --- ## [Mosquitoes in cold climes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mosquitoes-in-cold-climes/684764)
**Author:** [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [March 28, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mosquitoes-in-cold-climes/684764 "2014-03-28T19:40:12Z")
This is question comes from something Cecil said in his Germs from Melting Permafrost column. He says: I don’t understand this. Mosquitoes live in Alaska (where they can be quite voracious) and Northern New England. … --- ## [Chinese keyboards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-keyboards/684468)
**Author:** [@koreth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koreth)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [March 26, 2014, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-keyboards/684468 "2014-03-26T11:57:24Z")
A few corrections to the column (recently reprinted in the email newsletter) about how Chinese is entered on keyboards. It mostly gets the answer right, but is a bit outdated. Phonetic input methods have gotten a lot sm… --- ## [Golf Ball Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golf-ball-action/684266)
**Author:** [@jagsrus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jagsrus)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/golf-ball-action/684266 "2014-03-25T22:53:06Z")
First of all…I read the “Read this first msg”…The Constitution is shorter! What happened to the only 1 rule “Don’t be a jerk”… Honestly I thought that was enough. :confused: Golf Ball Memory: 3 of us kids (in the 60… --- ## [defective bolts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defective-bolts/683262)
**Author:** [@old\_nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/old_nicky)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 25, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defective-bolts/683262 "2014-03-25T20:05:58Z")
The question about defective bolts in skyscrapers reminded me of the Titanic. Didn’t the Titanic sink due to defective bolts (apart from the triggering iceberg, of course)? --- ## [“Acting strange\[ly\]”](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-strange-ly/683509)
**Author:** [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [March 23, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-strange-ly/683509 "2014-03-23T04:25:13Z")
In re “Is ‘acting strangely’ grammatically incorrect?”: Actually, the original questioner was wrong all through. “Acting strange” and “acting strangely” are both entirely acceptable. Vide the OED, s.v. “act”. --- ## [Response to Lizzie Borden and lesbianism](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/response-to-lizzie-borden-and-lesbianism/683321)
**Author:** [@crumemil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crumemil)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/response-to-lizzie-borden-and-lesbianism/683321 "2014-03-22T16:33:33Z")
I just wanted to help in some information related to Lizzie Borden and that possibility that she may have caused a divorce. It is very possible this did happen. In the book Lizzie Borden: A Dance of Death it discusses th… --- ## [What's up with penis-stealing sorcerors in Africa?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-penis-stealing-sorcerors-in-africa/683979)
**Author:** [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-penis-stealing-sorcerors-in-africa/683979 "2014-03-22T11:37:45Z")
Link to column I’m surprised Cecil didn’t mention our own penis-stealing witches in the West. The Malleus Malificarum has a whole chapter on these fiendish thefts. Part 2, Chapter VII, How, as it were, they Deprive Man… --- ## [Re:Why is there a hole in the lid of some Kiwi shoe polish cans?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-there-a-hole-in-the-lid-of-some-kiwi-shoe-polish-cans/595921)
**Author:** [@Wekadog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wekadog)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-why-is-there-a-hole-in-the-lid-of-some-kiwi-shoe-polish-cans/595921 "2014-03-21T17:46:51Z")
Chief Scott’s effort to get the answer directly from the manufacturer is commendable. So the hole in the lid of some Kiwi black shoe polish is to let an improperly mixed batch dry out? Even though this answer comes direc… --- ## [Orgasm power!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasm-power/683729)
**Author:** [@Treesong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treesong)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 19, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasm-power/683729 "2014-03-19T03:49:03Z")
I have nothing to say about the measurements, but ‘In other words, the total body energy used during orgasm is about 0.002 to 0.013 percent of a 550-calorie Big Mac’ is off by a factor of 100 because of that ‘percent’. U… --- ## [Feed a cold, feed a fever.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feed-a-cold-feed-a-fever/683606)
**Author:** [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [March 17, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feed-a-cold-feed-a-fever/683606 "2014-03-17T01:13:59Z")
The Master’s excellent article, Is it "feed a cold, starve a fever" or vice versa? And should you?, just doesn’t quite go far enough. I understand that He just can’t go on making things up as He goes along, but I’ve no … --- ## [Geronimo](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642)
**Author:** [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geronimo/455642 "2014-03-16T15:00:48Z")
Geronimo: The first US military jump seems to have been in August 1940, so this demonstration of feasibility was a little redundant: German Fallschirmjäger units made the first airborne invasion when invading Denmark o… --- ## [pink boys and blue girls](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-boys-and-blue-girls/683264)
**Author:** [@old\_nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/old_nicky)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 10, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pink-boys-and-blue-girls/683264 "2014-03-10T17:31:22Z")
Confirming Cecil’s answer to the ‘pink for girls’ question, that it is not a longstanding and universal tradition: I can attest that in the St Pierre/St Pieters Hospital in Brussels (affiliated with the ‘Universite Libre… --- ## [Are there still monsters lurking?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-monsters-lurking/683266)
**Author:** [@old\_nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/old_nicky)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 9, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-still-monsters-lurking/683266 "2014-03-09T16:55:10Z")
Again Cecil is spot on with his answer to unknown animals to be discovered. In the 1990’s a single field biologist (Marc van Roosmalen) discovered half a dozen new species of monkey, a new species of peccary and a dwarf … --- ## [Hiccups](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccups/682591)
**Author:** [@psythe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psythe)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [March 9, 2014, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccups/682591 "2014-03-09T09:56:36Z")
Original column Cue a deluge of tips for how to actually stop hiccups I think! When I get them from eating too fast I find that attempting to exhale against a closed glottis will often do the trick - I suspect that thi… --- ## [Marilyn vos Savant - wealthy and taxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-wealthy-and-taxes/682552)
**Author:** [@juliabliss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/juliabliss)\ **Replies:** 80\ **Last updated:** [March 8, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marilyn-vos-savant-wealthy-and-taxes/682552 "2014-03-08T17:45:31Z")
I expected the woman “with the highest IQ” would be a little smarter than this, but she probably is among those wealthy that considers their tax bill to be amazingly high. :smack: The wealthy like to spout the fact that… --- ## [Regarding Suicide Clause in Life Insurance](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-suicide-clause-in-life-insurance/683158)
**Author:** [@Michael\_C.Burton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_C.Burton)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 8, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/regarding-suicide-clause-in-life-insurance/683158 "2014-03-08T12:19:56Z")
Cecil, can you point me in the direction of any sources you used to describe the etymology of the typical modern-day suicide clause, from this article? Here’s the quote in which I most interested. “A related change h… --- ## [better bulbs revisited](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-bulbs-revisited/681319)
**Author:** [@Oldfarmermac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldfarmermac)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [March 6, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-bulbs-revisited/681319 "2014-03-06T18:25:19Z")
Feb3,2012 column Compact fluorescent bulbs are considerably better in terms of light quality and durability now than they were three or four years ago and in my opinion Cecil must have been buying off brand cfl’s if h… --- ## [Was Chairman Mao a pedophile?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-chairman-mao-a-pedophile/681905)
**Author:** [@Lou\_Downey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lou_Downey)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [March 5, 2014, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-chairman-mao-a-pedophile/681905 "2014-03-05T10:12:23Z")
In the Feb. 21 Straight Dope colum, Cecil responds to a reader’s question, “Was Chairman Mao a pedophile?” Cecil answers the question by relying almost entirely on unverified assertions in the memoir, The Private Life of… --- ## [Lefties and power tools](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lefties-and-power-tools/680769)
**Author:** [@ksweetman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ksweetman)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [March 4, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lefties-and-power-tools/680769 "2014-03-04T16:59:21Z")
Just a thought: A lot of tools, like scissors for instance are awkward to use left handed, so that might be a contributing factor. MODERATOR NOTE: ksweetman, is this the column you’re referring to: Do left-handers di… --- ## [Microwave chemical changes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwave-chemical-changes/682507)
**Author:** [@jezzaOZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jezzaOZ)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [March 4, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwave-chemical-changes/682507 "2014-03-04T05:18:02Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3151/anything-new-on-the-dangers-of-microwave-ovens gives an update on microwave chemical effects. It includes the comment Everyone agrees microwaves are far too low-energy to … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=38)