Email Author Cecil Adams

1998 Stories by Cecil Adams

• The Straight Dope

  published December 31, 1998

  Why does a nuclear explosion form a mushroom-shaped cloud? If you would tell me why frantic and furious fusion and fission have a fondness... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published December 24, 1998

  Lately I've been hearing nasty little rumors that my favorite addiction is just that... an addiction! Is it true that Chap Stick and others... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published December 17, 1998

  What's the story with the mysterious hum in Taos, New Mexico? I remember it was a popular subject among screwballs and scientists with nothing... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published December 10, 1998

  The difference between being a drug addict and a Straight Dope addict is that I can only get an occasional fix of the Straight Dope. You make me... More >>

• Straight Dope

  published December 3, 1998

  Exactly what occurs during the process of cremation? What exactly remains after the process is done? I hear all kinds of opinions on this, but I... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published November 19, 1998

  When I watch a movie on television or videotape, there is sometimes a statement that this movie has been formatted to fit my screen. My question... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published November 12, 1998

  Did the Celts really celebrate a holiday by building a huge, hollow man out of wicker, filling the man with prisoners, then lighting the thing on... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published November 5, 1998

  Why aren't seat belts mandatory in all school buses? -- Kesti16, via AOL When I first considered this question, the words natural... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published October 29, 1998

  Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn? -- Nruggierbc, via AOL I don't care! Sorry, couldn't resist. As you know from... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published October 22, 1998

  I've always been intrigued by the ancient custom in China of binding women's feet. I've never seen an actual picture of what they end up... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published October 15, 1998

  Regarding your recent column on the belief that infants must have a name before leaving the hospital (August 27), I was once acquainted with a... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published October 8, 1998

  I have a question for you. How much does it cost to make an individual penny? Also, how many are made each year? (OK, so it's more than one... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published October 1, 1998

  A friend told me about a woman who had a tumor removed from her ovary (or something in that area), and the tumor had hair and teeth. She was... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published September 24, 1998

  Your piece about the blue Fugates (July 23) was fascinating, but I don't think Lonijo's husband was talking about them when he referred to the... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published September 17, 1998

  I recall reading an article in the Bodega Bay Navigator by one of their staff columnists who is a minister. He said there is some evidence that... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published September 10, 1998

  This has probably been answered somewhere before, but I was getting my teeth drilled that day. Just what does kumbaya mean? -- F. Pierson,... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published September 3, 1998

  Can you confirm the following? It sounds rather fishy to me. -- Adam Koford, Salt Lake City, Utah "Subject: Truth About the... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published August 27, 1998

  My next-door neighbors just had a baby, announcing the birth with a pink lawn sign that says, "It's a girl!" However, the space where you're... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published August 20, 1998

  An issue came up the other evening over dinner. Do identical twins have different fingerprints? If it's a genetic trait, one would think the twins... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published August 13, 1998

  Educational conservatives sometimes say our problems would be over if we just taught kids to diagram sentences. Yet consider this simple sentence,... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published August 6, 1998

  When will average people feasibly be able to afford a commercial trip into orbit? -- Mike, via AOL What's your idea of average? If it's... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published July 30, 1998

  Cecil, I've got a question for you that has me stumped. How are shrunken heads made? I'm sure they have to take the skull out, but how? And why do... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published July 23, 1998

  My husband swears that when he took anthropology they talked about a race of blue people. How did I miss this? Don't you dare say it was the... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published July 16, 1998

  Tycho Brahe, the astronomer, is buried here in Prague in a church. That's not so unusual. What is rather strange is the persistent rumor that he... More >>

• The Straight Dope

  published July 9, 1998

  In your book The Straight Dope, you were asked whether John Wayne had ever served in the military. You said no -- that though Wayne as a youth had... More >>