# Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=79 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 80 --- ## [Training gophers to dig up gold in Alaska](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-gophers-to-dig-up-gold-in-alaska/566730)
**Author:** [@dobieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dobieman)\ **Replies:** 15\ **Last updated:** [January 14, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/training-gophers-to-dig-up-gold-in-alaska/566730 "2011-01-14T04:17:33Z")
Well, Alaska and/or the Yukon. There’s one problem with this idea, and having lived here in Fairbanks I, like any Interior resident, am all too familiar with it: permafrost. From the north side of the Alaska Range upw… --- ## [On thermostats](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-thermostats/567437)
**Author:** [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-thermostats/567437 "2011-01-13T18:04:58Z")
From the column. \*My indefatigable assistant Una conducted a long-term research project in which she installed a programmable thermostat in her house, aggressively dialed back the nighttime setting for winter, \*\*then tr… --- ## [Roman Numeral on Clocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roman-numeral-on-clocks/567409)
**Author:** [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roman-numeral-on-clocks/567409 "2011-01-13T15:53:06Z")
In Cecil’s column about Roman numeral on clocks, he mentioned the old “balance” argument about “IIII” was used because it balanced out “VIII”. He also mentioned that the subtraction shortcut wasn’t commonly used in Roman… --- ## [Can opera singers shatter glass with their high notes?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-opera-singers-shatter-glass-with-their-high-notes/567425)
**Author:** [@RearEchelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RearEchelon)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2011, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-opera-singers-shatter-glass-with-their-high-notes/567425 "2011-01-13T10:01:08Z")
I stumbled on this Classic today (Can opera singers shatter glass with their high notes?) and just wanted to toss in my two cents for an update. On an episode of Mythbusters, the guys brought on vocal coach Jamie Vendera… --- ## [Urine therapy: not as old as people claim](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-therapy-not-as-old-as-people-claim/561249)
**Author:** [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 13, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urine-therapy-not-as-old-as-people-claim/561249 "2011-01-13T04:58:42Z")
In this column, Cecil says Now, our popular science TV show Quarks had a special on urine, and reported also on urine therapy(in German). (I know that Cecil knew that and was prevented from space restrictions to fully … --- ## [Lottery annuity vs. lump sum](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lottery-annuity-vs-lump-sum/567208)
**Author:** [@Genny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genny)\ **Replies:** 7\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lottery-annuity-vs-lump-sum/567208 "2011-01-11T17:08:09Z")
Not that the California lottery offers a lump sum option anymore, but in case anyone else’s state does, I offer herewith my own personal calculation of the relative benefits of taking the lump sum vs. the annuity: Q = o… --- ## [Do eskimo men lend their wives.....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-eskimo-men-lend-their-wives/401119)
**Author:** [@angel\_chameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angel_chameleon)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [January 11, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-eskimo-men-lend-their-wives/401119 "2011-01-11T15:05:00Z")
:dubious: I read with interest the SDSTAFF “Do eskimo men lend their wives to strangers?” dated 21 Jan 2003. I have been trying to find out the truth behind an Australian’s male statement that culturally, in the past,… --- ## [The Sound of One Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828)
**Author:** [@Philismo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philismo)\ **Replies:** 9\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828 "2011-01-10T22:42:14Z")
Cecil’s comments on the sound of the one hand are not as helpful as they should be. The fact is, there is a sound. You last heard it when you were an infant, before you learned to clap. Back then, the universe was a ve… --- ## [underarm hair on women](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underarm-hair-on-women/338721)
**Author:** [@valis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valis)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underarm-hair-on-women/338721 "2011-01-10T20:35:47Z")
Todays column: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_012.html layed the blame on advertising for womens leg and underarm shaving. I had heard that this practice started in the old west amongst prostitutes to give a li… --- ## [Thermostats](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thermostats/562784)
**Author:** [@yawetag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yawetag)\ **Replies:** 64\ **Last updated:** [January 10, 2011, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thermostats/562784 "2011-01-10T07:24:49Z")
So, Cecil is telling me that my $1,000,000 idea will also save people money? BRILLIANT! My idea was to have the ability to program a temperature range for your house. For example, in the winter, you set it to be 65-74. … --- ## [Did whites ever give Native Americans blankets infected with smallpox?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-whites-ever-give-native-americans-blankets-infected-with-smallpox/565980)
**Author:** [@Glen\_Schmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glen_Schmidt)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-whites-ever-give-native-americans-blankets-infected-with-smallpox/565980 "2011-01-08T16:55:56Z")
This question is interesting. Amherst’s letters seem to be clear. The part that doesn’t make sense is that the disease transmission process wasn’t really understood until the work of Pasteur. At the time that Amherst mus… --- ## [Highways Forever Response](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highways-forever-response/566040)
**Author:** [@ArrowDynamic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrowDynamic)\ **Replies:** 44\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2011, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highways-forever-response/566040 "2011-01-08T09:42:28Z")
I thought the answer to Dan’s question was purdy darn thorough. Thanks Cecil. I do have a question. I seem to remember several years ago that I read about how they were using recycled tires and shredding the rubber an… --- ## [Origin of the Peace Symbol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-peace-symbol/566529)
**Author:** [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [January 8, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-peace-symbol/566529 "2011-01-08T02:29:22Z")
Link to column: Cecil is, based on the recorded facts, correct re’ the origin of this symbol (one of my sources is “The Power of the People; Active Nonviolence in the United States”, Robert Cooney & Helen Michalowski, … --- ## [reality of the real](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-of-the-real/566445)
**Author:** [@gl1520](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gl1520)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [January 7, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reality-of-the-real/566445 "2011-01-07T15:40:43Z")
It does not matter weather Carlos was fact or fiction, but that he gets people to think.If you are brave enough to study different beliefs, you will find the same teachings wrote a different way. Study the Native America… --- ## [WW2 rationing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-rationing/566448)
**Author:** [@Anointymouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anointymouse)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 5, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-rationing/566448 "2011-01-05T17:22:38Z")
Back in my youth, I was told by someone (perhaps one of my schoolteacher aunts) that FDR favored having educators handle the rationing duties. He apparently felt that they were among the more trustworthy of society. I … --- ## [Origin of the peace symbol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-peace-symbol/566484)
**Author:** [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 5, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-peace-symbol/566484 "2011-01-05T15:14:44Z")
Just noticed that the first sentence of the second paragraph is repeated. --- ## ["Why is winter the season for colds, flu, etc.?"](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-winter-the-season-for-colds-flu-etc/566150)
**Author:** [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [January 5, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-winter-the-season-for-colds-flu-etc/566150 "2011-01-05T15:11:38Z")
The most likely explanation for this correlation is low serum vitamin D status due to insufficient exposure to sunlight during winter months. Mainstream medicine believes that the reason there are more colds in the… --- ## [Shower Curtain Blows In](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-curtain-blows-in/564507)
**Author:** [@Geedavey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geedavey)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [January 4, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-curtain-blows-in/564507 "2011-01-04T20:16:08Z")
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1369/why-does-the-shower-curtain-blow-in-despite-the-water-pushing-it-out-revisited Sorry, I’ll always be a convert to the chimney theory, and here’s why: If the curtain blow-in … --- ## [More on the apollo moon landing](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-the-apollo-moon-landing/565957)
**Author:** [@aguyant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aguyant)\ **Replies:** 22\ **Last updated:** [January 4, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-on-the-apollo-moon-landing/565957 "2011-01-04T15:22:31Z")
I watched and episode of “Myth Busters” the other day that was very very good at proving that we went to the moon. I highly recommend it to someone who is still skeptical after reading the answer to this question --- ## [Which boils faster, hot water or cold water?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-boils-faster-hot-water-or-cold-water/564789)
**Author:** [@B.F.Bastardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.F.Bastardo)\ **Replies:** 14\ **Last updated:** [January 2, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-boils-faster-hot-water-or-cold-water/564789 "2011-01-02T15:00:01Z")
Cecil said: This is true, but you should never make tea (or any drink that requires hot water) from reboiled water, as the removal of most of the dissolved oxygen from the water during the first boiling makes the wat… --- ## [reason why hot water freezes faster](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-why-hot-water-freezes-faster/565880)
**Author:** [@dal9000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dal9000)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [January 2, 2011, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-why-hot-water-freezes-faster/565880 "2011-01-02T09:52:03Z")
I’ve always been told that there is always a small truth in every old wives tale… Here is where this hot water boils faster… In the old days of having freezers WITHOUT automatic defrost cycles, there would be a coating… --- ## [Re: Ivory Soap 99 44/100's% Pure](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-ivory-soap-99-44-100s-pure/563718)
**Author:** [@jerryroreo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerryroreo)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [January 1, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-ivory-soap-99-44-100s-pure/563718 "2011-01-01T20:05:57Z")
Back to my school days at Mass. Pharmacy , I remember my Economics professor stating that the soap mentioned was, 99 44/100 % pure “Ivory Soap”. Which no other soap could claim. --- ## [Thanksgiving Day](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623)
**Author:** [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [January 1, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623 "2011-01-01T06:05:57Z")
Why does the American Thanksgiving Day always fall on a Thursday ? Do most Americans take Friday off as well ? --- ## [Bullet fired from spaceship/speed of light](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullet-fired-from-spaceship-speed-of-light/562826)
**Author:** [@ahale1929](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ahale1929)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [December 31, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullet-fired-from-spaceship-speed-of-light/562826 "2010-12-31T18:42:41Z")
One factor not mentioned by Cecil. That’s the “time” factor. What if “time” really does not exist but is merely an invention by H. Sapiens to measure the interval between tow events? --- ## [The Origin of the Heart Symbol](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-heart-symbol/565938)
**Author:** [@Yairh20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yairh20)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [December 31, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-the-heart-symbol/565938 "2010-12-31T17:56:58Z")
I have heard that Silphium (the worlds first contraceptive) was the basis for the heart symbol. Its seed was shaped like our heart symbol, and its connection to sex, lust, and love were the reason it was chosen to depict… --- ## [Was Hitler a Christian?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-a-christian/555096)
**Author:** [@Wade\_A.Tisthammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wade_A.Tisthammer)\ **Replies:** 170\ **Last updated:** [December 31, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hitler-a-christian/555096 "2010-12-31T01:21:43Z")
This is in reference to the Was Hitler a Christian? staff entry. True, we must bear in mind that Hitler was a great manipulator and not above pandering to the masses, so we should ask ourselves at least this question. … --- ## [Howard Cosell](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557)
**Author:** [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Replies:** 29\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-cosell/564557 "2010-12-30T21:10:42Z")
In the column on Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, Cecil writes: “With the inimitable Howard Cosell in the broadcast booth, 30,492 spectators in the building plus millions watching on TV saw King kick Riggs’s butt.” No… --- ## [Re: Telegrams](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-telegrams/565660)
**Author:** [@Canuck-Errant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canuck-Errant)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [December 30, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-telegrams/565660 "2010-12-30T13:35:36Z")
I came across a column from 2001 (with an update in 2006) about telegrams. Turns out that with the death of Western Union have come new telegram services (of all things). Telegrams Canada (over at http://www.telegrams.ca… --- ## [bluto and or brutus?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluto-and-or-brutus/565494)
**Author:** [@gayleteague](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gayleteague)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [December 29, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bluto-and-or-brutus/565494 "2010-12-29T21:10:02Z")
leave it to lawyers to mess everything up about bluto or brutus. --- ## [Does the Moon actually rotate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-moon-actually-rotate/565102)
**Author:** [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [December 28, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-moon-actually-rotate/565102 "2010-12-28T22:33:23Z")
In response to this SD classic. Given that the Moon is locked with the Earth, is it true to say that the Moon rotates? I’m assuming the point of reference is the Sun. The Earth rotates when compared to the Sun, but do… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7.md?page=80)