# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=61 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 62 --- ## [Strobe effect in lighting](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strobe-effect-in-lighting/617054)
**Author:** [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [April 3, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strobe-effect-in-lighting/617054 "2012-04-03T03:43:40Z")
On today’s column, Cecil discusses the possibility of a strobe effect from fluorescent lighting. Way back in those distant days we played music from something called a phonograph record on a machine called, among other … --- ## [Balding women](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balding-women/617590)
**Author:** [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balding-women/617590 "2012-04-02T16:30:14Z")
Article here. Could it be a result of insufficient iron? Anemia begets alopecia, as it’s commonly worded. --- ## [How do Porcupines have sex](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-porcupines-have-sex/617553)
**Author:** [@HoneyEnglish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyEnglish)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-porcupines-have-sex/617553 "2012-04-02T12:51:27Z")
Always thought the answer was… ‘Very Carefully’ Glad to hear the real deal, tks. --- ## [Hot topic of the day: ancient Rome](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-topic-of-the-day-ancient-rome/617501)
**Author:** [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [April 2, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-topic-of-the-day-ancient-rome/617501 "2012-04-02T02:54:22Z")
See Cecil on how the ancient Romans used corn (a New World vegetable) and thus overturned history as we know it: How could the Romans use corn? It’s American! - The Straight Dope --- ## [static electricity and helicopter blades](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-electricity-and-helicopter-blades/617349)
**Author:** [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-electricity-and-helicopter-blades/617349 "2012-04-01T19:01:49Z")
Re the column Can static electricity kill you? I just wanted to point out there are links to photos and a video in this old thread. Sparks on helicopter rotor blades! - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - St… --- ## [Mathematical error in static electricity column (03/30/2012)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mathematical-error-in-static-electricity-column-03-30-2012/617281)
**Author:** [@Huwmanbeing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huwmanbeing)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mathematical-error-in-static-electricity-column-03-30-2012/617281 "2012-04-01T12:26:19Z")
I enjoyed today’s column on static electricity, but noticed that Cecil makes a pretty sizable mathematical error in the final paragraph: he describes a lightning bolt of 500 megajoules as 370,000 times greater than the l… --- ## [Why do prices end in .99?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prices-end-in-99/616521)
**Author:** [@Little\_Brother\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Brother_1)\ **Replies:** 10\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-prices-end-in-99/616521 "2012-04-01T12:26:02Z")
A more interesting, if equally elusive, question is why so many irrational quasi-scams persist in the retail market. I don’t mean to shill for the JC Penney Corporation, but I notice that they have launched an ad campai… --- ## [Stink](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink/617465)
**Author:** [@tavaritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavaritz)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink/617465 "2012-04-01T12:18:45Z")
Cecil’s column about personal hygien and stink: reminded me about the observation that now when smoking is prohibited in nightclubs they smell more or less like locker rooms. --- ## [Tea in China](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-in-china/616457)
**Author:** [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [April 1, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tea-in-china/616457 "2012-04-01T11:01:27Z")
Original column: How much is all the tea in China worth? I was curious as to what the actual answer for this is, so finally giving something back to the Dope community, I did the required googling. According to this si… --- ## [Buck, meaning a dollar](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buck-meaning-a-dollar/617282)
**Author:** [@kmhepler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kmhepler)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 30, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buck-meaning-a-dollar/617282 "2012-03-30T17:15:26Z")
In re: buck meaning a marker for “you are it.” In the old days of paper correspondence and no copiers, offices would circulate items among staff as bundles. Accompanying each bundle was the “buck slip” which served bo… --- ## [Okay, so why does banking "float" still exist?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-why-does-banking-float-still-exist/615958)
**Author:** [@grovberg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grovberg)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 27, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-why-does-banking-float-still-exist/615958 "2012-03-27T21:54:32Z")
This is something I wonder about all the time. I recently had to close my account with a “online” bank because electronic transfers to that bank (the only way to deposit money) from an existing bank took 2 business days… --- ## [How to conduct a hanging](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-conduct-a-hanging/615963)
**Author:** [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [March 24, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-conduct-a-hanging/615963 "2012-03-24T17:27:13Z")
In Is there an official U.S. manual on how to conduct a hanging?, Cecil wrote: “… official pamphlet number 27-4, Procedure for Military Executions, … provides everything from rope specifications to instructions on what m… --- ## [Tontines](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tontines/616003)
**Author:** [@eadkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eadkins)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 23, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tontines/616003 "2012-03-23T22:34:09Z")
I thought surely you would mention the “Mash” episode where Colonel Potter was the last surviving member of a tontine of his WW I buddies. But since you didn’t, I will. --- ## [RE: Do "push to walk" buttons at intersections ever actually work?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-do-push-to-walk-buttons-at-intersections-ever-actually-work/615826)
**Author:** [@elkpapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elkpapa)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-do-push-to-walk-buttons-at-intersections-ever-actually-work/615826 "2012-03-22T20:20:20Z")
Markus, you will be happy to know that in Vancouver, Canada, you can press a button for bikers that changes the light- most of the time, immediately. Take a trip up to Vancouver to see it for yourself! I recommend the bi… --- ## [Re: "Boondock Banking" in Lake Lillian](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-boondock-banking-in-lake-lillian/615959)
**Author:** [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [March 21, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-boondock-banking-in-lake-lillian/615959 "2012-03-21T19:04:48Z")
Regardless of what the esteemed citizens of rural Minnesota say, having been born and raised in the Twin Cities, I can assure you that the entire state, like the rest of the American Midwest, is a true \*\*\*\*hole. If ther… --- ## [The demise of sugar cubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demise-of-sugar-cubes/615231)
**Author:** [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-demise-of-sugar-cubes/615231 "2012-03-20T23:08:30Z")
Re: Cecil’s column, Why do you seldom see sugar cubes in restaurants anymore?, Originally published March 30, 1979; re-published on-line today (March 8, 2012): He remarks that these are still being made, but not used ne… --- ## [expired meds](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-meds/616271)
**Author:** [@JJaycee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JJaycee)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/expired-meds/616271 "2012-03-20T05:49:41Z")
Actually, tetracycline (which should be finished anyway because it’s an antibiotic and you shouldn’t have leftovers) can go bad and cause something called Fanconi Syndrome. This can cause serious kidney damage. So, not … --- ## [Where is Lake Lillian Anyway?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-lake-lillian-anyway/616253)
**Author:** [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 20, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-lake-lillian-anyway/616253 "2012-03-20T01:57:11Z")
I was curious, and I found out, and I will tell you. This is in response to the “Why are rebate checks drawn on obscure banks in the middle of nowhere?” column. --- ## [donating blood to loose weight](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donating-blood-to-loose-weight/615909)
**Author:** [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donating-blood-to-loose-weight/615909 "2012-03-16T17:14:34Z")
I wonder if plasma donation might be more effective for weight loss as you can do it twice a week and a much greater quantity of fluid. --- ## [Kidneys](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kidneys/615970)
**Author:** [@Votan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Votan)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [March 16, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kidneys/615970 "2012-03-16T15:18:34Z")
re: ABC News: “Organs for Sale: Impoverished Bangladeshis Try to Sell Kidneys on Black Market, End Up Poor and Ill” http://news.yahoo.com/organs-sale-impoverished-bangladeshis-try-sell-kidneys-black-211401476--abc-ne… --- ## [Boiled frogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boiled-frogs/615314)
**Author:** [@dmunsil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmunsil)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [March 15, 2012, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boiled-frogs/615314 "2012-03-15T07:20:54Z")
Link to column on the “frog in slowly heated water boiling alive” myth here. James Fallows of The Atlantic has been reporting on this myth for years, and has collected an impressive body of references to uses of it and … --- ## [side note on color blindness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/side-note-on-color-blindness/615239)
**Author:** [@Jerry\_in\_Canada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerry_in_Canada)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/side-note-on-color-blindness/615239 "2012-03-12T23:29:25Z")
I recall seeing an article several years ago about a farmer in Saskatchewan (one of the new ones with a university degree) who had discovered a way to filter out the reflected wavelength of chlorophyll and developed a pa… --- ## [Origin of "OK"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-ok/615163)
**Author:** [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-ok/615163 "2012-03-12T19:40:54Z")
I used to work for the Minnesota Historical Society. The expression is found in a transcript from a court martial held at Fort Snelling in (as I recall) 1832. I’m not disputing the origin given in TSD, but it would see… --- ## [Vacuum of Space](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vacuum-of-space/614787)
**Author:** [@Nelsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelsen)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [March 12, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vacuum-of-space/614787 "2012-03-12T02:50:37Z")
This week I enjoyed rereading STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #3 — 03/22/1991. If you were thrown into the vacuum of space with no space suit, would you explode? And the answer is in brief, “no.” Still one can’t resist conjuri… --- ## [Name-brand drugs vs. generics](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-brand-drugs-vs-generics/613937)
**Author:** [@tavaritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavaritz)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 10, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-brand-drugs-vs-generics/613937 "2012-03-10T19:56:44Z")
In the article: Cecil clearly said that there can be differences on non-trivial drugs, between name-brands and generics. This is quite true as there are more to a drug than just the effective ingredient. There are c… --- ## [Above-it-all pussies at the New Yorker](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/above-it-all-pussies-at-the-new-yorker/615238)
**Author:** [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [March 9, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/above-it-all-pussies-at-the-new-yorker/615238 "2012-03-09T21:58:04Z")
Why this reference to New Yorker? Some sort of rivalry with CL empire? Link. --- ## [Explosive decompression](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosive-decompression/615109)
**Author:** [@Wizard\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wizard_One)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [March 8, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explosive-decompression/615109 "2012-03-08T05:50:39Z")
The “experts at NASA” would disagree with your experts at NASA assessment, as NASA has two known cases of human exposure to hard vacuum on record, for relatively extended periods (read: minute or so and a third with a pa… --- ## [E=mc^2 does not apply to chemical reactions](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mc-2-does-not-apply-to-chemical-reactions/615014)
**Author:** [@tshort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tshort)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [March 8, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-mc-2-does-not-apply-to-chemical-reactions/615014 "2012-03-08T04:40:13Z")
In response to the Eating Food on an Airplane question (Does an airplane weigh less after the passengers have eaten their meals? - The Straight Dope), the loss of matter due to digestion is brought up, and the E=mc^2 equ… --- ## [Melting wood](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melting-wood/615003)
**Author:** [@tavaritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavaritz)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 7, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melting-wood/615003 "2012-03-07T15:00:24Z")
In his article about why wood won’t melt: Cecil wrote that if you heat wood in vacuum you would get liquefied carbon. I say it depends. Tar is made by heating conifer wood in a pile that wont let oxygen in. So I’d sa… --- ## [Was a dead body found inside an amusement park "mummy"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-dead-body-found-inside-an-amusement-park-mummy/177590)
**Author:** [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [March 7, 2012, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-dead-body-found-inside-an-amusement-park-mummy/177590 "2012-03-07T07:53:26Z")
Today’s classic column is Was a dead body found inside an amusement park “mummy”? How many people saw that column and expected to see an old guy, unmasked, shaking his fist and muttering, “I woulda gotten away with it, … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=60) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=62)