The Straight Dope - Fighting Ignorance Since 1973

Straight Dope Archive

Can someone be literally scared to death?

By Cecil Adams
January 6, 2006

Special Delivery: Can a live person be packed in a shipping crate and mailed?

By Cecil Adams
December 30, 2005

What does Alice in Wonderland have to do with psychological testing?

By Cecil Adams
December 23, 2005

The washday blues: Is it safe to wash clothing at the laundromat?

By Cecil Adams
December 16, 2005

Why does so much ancient Greek art feature males with small genitalia?

By Cecil Adams
December 9, 2005

Are there actual cases of castaways rescued from deserted islands?

By Cecil Adams
December 2, 2005

Did the Pilgrims land on Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer?

By Cecil Adams
November 25, 2005

Oh, Smedley: Was there really a fascist plot to overthrow the United States government?

By Cecil Adams
November 18, 2005

Is Geronimo's skull residing at Yale's Skull and Bones? Was it stolen from the grave by Prescott Bush?

By Cecil Adams
November 11, 2005

Did Coca-Cola torture and kill workers in Latin America?

By Cecil Adams
November 4, 2005

Are there inbred families in the Ozarks/Appalachians like in Deliverance?

By Cecil Adams
October 28, 2005

Could a human swing through the jungle on vines?

By Cecil Adams
October 21, 2005

What's so great about Shakespeare?

By Cecil Adams
October 14, 2005

How much of all Internet traffic is pornography?

By Cecil Adams
October 7, 2005

Is it dangerous to jump start a dead battery? (Especially the way most guys do it?)

By Cecil Adams
September 30, 2005

Did a mob of angry Dutch kill and eat their prime minister?

By Cecil Adams
September 23, 2005

How did rocks from Mars end up here on Earth?

By Cecil Adams
September 16, 2005

Is it dangerous to use an air hose to induce flatus?

By Cecil Adams
September 9, 2005

How do martial artists break boards and bricks using only their bare hands?

By Cecil Adams
September 2, 2005

Operation Able Archer: Were the United States and the Soviet Union on the brink of nuclear war?

By Cecil Adams
August 26, 2005

Is male pattern baldness inherited? Who's to blame?

By Cecil Adams
August 19, 2005

Natural born killers: What's the most deadly natural disaster?

By Cecil Adams
August 12, 2005

How do you have lucid dreams?

By Cecil Adams
August 5, 2005

When toast falls, what's more likely: Buttered side up or buttered side down?

By Cecil Adams
July 29, 2005

How likely is the ending of War of the Worlds?

By Cecil Adams
July 22, 2005

Did a New York City museum have Eskimos on display?

By Cecil Adams
July 15, 2005

Why don't trees grow on the Great Plains?

By Cecil Adams
July 8, 2005

What's the best toothpaste?

By Cecil Adams
July 1, 2005

Could a nuclear weapon be built and carried in a suitcase?

By Cecil Adams
June 24, 2005

Assuming the missionary position … again.

By Cecil Adams
June 17, 2005

Is coprophagia dangerous?

By Cecil Adams
June 10, 2005

Are cancer rates rising due to environmental factors or simply more reporting of cases?

By Cecil Adams
June 3, 2005

Was Ludwig van Beethoven of African ancestry?

By Cecil Adams
May 27, 2005

Was there genocide in early 20th century Armenia?

By Cecil Adams
May 20, 2005

Were there Nike missile sites on the Chicago lakefront?

By Cecil Adams
May 13, 2005

Does microwaving kill nutrients in food? Is microwaving safe?

By Cecil Adams
May 6, 2005

Can a woman's menstrual cycle make her more susceptible to the effects of alcohol?

By Cecil Adams
April 29, 2005

Do tall people die younger?

By Cecil Adams
April 22, 2005

Is it possible to be dyslexic in Chinese?

By Cecil Adams
April 8, 2005

Did the Catholic church in Ireland imprison wayward girls?

By Cecil Adams
April 1, 2005

Does PCP turn people into cannibals?

By Cecil Adams
March 25, 2005

Is brainwashing possible?

By Cecil Adams
March 18, 2005

Could you jump off a bridge or a tall building and survive the fall?

By Cecil Adams
March 11, 2005

Is it impossible to open a refrigerator door from the inside?

By Cecil Adams
March 4, 2005

Will looking directly at a solar eclipse make you go blind?

By Cecil Adams
February 25, 2005

Do intravenous sedatives act instantly as depicted by Hollywood?

By Cecil Adams
February 18, 2005

What happened to Hitler's family? Is progeria really accelerated aging?

By Cecil Adams
February 11, 2005

Can you get drunk on Listerine? How about vanilla extract?

By Cecil Adams
February 4, 2005

Are male fertility rates shrinking?

By Cecil Adams
January 28, 2005

Exercise! Does running burn more calories than walking?

By Cecil Adams
January 21, 2005

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Does meditation make your brain work differently?

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