Straight Dope Archive

Update: What are your chances of getting HIV?
By Cecil Adams
March 1, 2002
Do Egyptians burn mummies as fuel?
By Cecil Adams
February 22, 2002
Does my cell phone company keep track of me wherever I go?
By Cecil Adams
February 15, 2002
Can water be too pure? Is too much water bad for you?
By Cecil Adams
February 8, 2002
Who invented paradise?
By Cecil Adams
February 1, 2002
Did New York once have a transvestite governor?
By Cecil Adams
January 25, 2002
What gives with Fifth Third Bank?
By Cecil Adams
January 18, 2002
What's up with the Indian rope trick and the bed of nails?
By Cecil Adams
January 11, 2002
What mountain is depicted in the Paramount logo? Why do women laugh hysterically?
By Cecil Adams
January 4, 2002
Why are Milk Duds called Milk Duds? Plus: What do morays have to do with culture?
By Cecil Adams
December 28, 2001
What's the story with vaginal foreign bodies?
By Cecil Adams
December 21, 2001
Does the Koran really promise Islamic martyrs 72 virgins?
By Cecil Adams
December 14, 2001
Is Mexican vanilla toxic? Plus: What happens if you microwave the popcorn upside down?
By Cecil Adams
December 7, 2001
In the Third World, do people wipe with their left hands? Plus: G-spot update
By Cecil Adams
November 30, 2001
Is the glycemic index the new key to healthy eating?
By Cecil Adams
November 23, 2001
Is it true turtles breathe through their butts?
By Cecil Adams
November 16, 2001
How long does a smallpox vaccination protect you?
By Cecil Adams
November 9, 2001
Can dogs and cats really find their way home over long distances, as in "Incredible Journey"?
By Cecil Adams
November 2, 2001
Was the legendary liqueur absinthe hallucinogenic?
By Cecil Adams
October 26, 2001
Did people really run away to join the French Foreign Legion?
By Cecil Adams
October 19, 2001
Are guinea pigs ever used as guinea pigs?
By Cecil Adams
October 12, 2001
Does shining a flashlight behind your knee prevent jet lag?
By Cecil Adams
October 5, 2001
Are there Kegel exercises for men? Plus: what does the KY in K-Y jelly stand for?
By Cecil Adams
September 28, 2001
Has any famous person ever succeeded in faking his own death?
By Cecil Adams
September 21, 2001
Have any real-life Jonahs been swallowed by whales and lived?
By Cecil Adams
September 14, 2001
Can the candirú fish swim upstream into your urethra (revisited)?
By Cecil Adams
September 7, 2001
If you handle baby birds, will their parents shun them?
By Cecil Adams
August 31, 2001
Do lightning rods really work?
By Cecil Adams
August 24, 2001
Did the Aum Shinrikyo cult detonate an atom bomb in Australia?
By Cecil Adams
August 17, 2001
What are the mysterious lyrics in "Lady Marmalade"?
By Cecil Adams
August 3, 2001
What are the words to "La Cucaracha"?
By Cecil Adams
July 27, 2001
Does voice-activated eavesdropping technology listen in on phone conversations for suspicious "keywords"?
By Cecil Adams
July 20, 2001
Was the Mir space station being eaten by a mysterious fungus?
By Cecil Adams
July 13, 2001
Did the inventor of the Slinky join a cult in Bolivia?
By Cecil Adams
July 6, 2001
Is there such a thing as a sneeze fetish?
By Cecil Adams
June 29, 2001
Who was the stupidest U.S. president?
By Cecil Adams
June 22, 2001
What's the story on prions, which supposedly cause mad cow disease?
By Cecil Adams
June 15, 2001
Has any non-Muslim ever made the pilgrimage to Mecca?
By Cecil Adams
June 8, 2001
Why are the "seven deadly sins" so deadly?
By Cecil Adams
June 1, 2001
Does civet come from tortured cats? Does kopi luwak coffee come from pre-eaten beans?
By Cecil Adams
May 25, 2001
Are flamingos pink because they eat shrimps?
By Cecil Adams
May 18, 2001
In Nintendo's "Duck Hunt," how does the TV know when you've hit a duck?
By Cecil Adams
May 11, 2001
Why do U.S. radio call letters start with W in the east and K in the west (revisited)?
By Cecil Adams
May 4, 2001
Will suppressing a sneeze give you a brain aneurysm?
By Cecil Adams
April 27, 2001
Do dentists have the highest suicide rate?
By Cecil Adams
April 20, 2001
Do crime scene investigators really draw a chalk line around the body?
By Cecil Adams
April 13, 2001
Can a noise be loud enough to kill you?
By Cecil Adams
April 6, 2001
Did Wile E. Coyote ever catch the Road Runner? Plus: How do they get the fortunes inside Chinese fortune cookies?
By Cecil Adams
March 30, 2001
Why does Swiss cheese have holes in it?
By Cecil Adams
March 23, 2001
Is "different than" bad grammar?
By Cecil Adams
March 16, 2001
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