The Straight Dope 10/22/2004

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
http://www.straightdope.com

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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 10/22/2004

Dear Cecil:

I saw a bottle at the pharmacist's today that said "Shark Cartilage" on
it. My curiosity was piqued, so I asked if it really was shark
cartilage. My pharmacist said it most certainly was and that a lot of
people take it for its alleged immunity benefits. She told me that
sharks don't get cancer, parasites, infections, etc, because their
internal organ setup consists almost exclusively of a liver, and that
sharks only die from being eaten or from starvation after they lose
their teeth. Is this true? Am I missing the boat by not stocking up on
shark innards, or is this a bunch of aquatic bunk? --KC, via
e-mail

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Cecil replies:

Your first thought is: Oh, right, shark cartilage--that definitely
sounds like it'd be effective against the big C. Your second thought is:
Hey, they laughed at the guy who tried to make an antibiotic out of
bread mold. (Guide for the perplexed: We're talking about penicillin,
goof.) A lot of pharmaceuticals were invented using some process that on
first hearing sounded pretty stupid. Trouble is, a lot of stupid things
start out pretty stupid, too.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041022.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

Please explain what "blanks" are, as in "the gun was firing blanks," as
opposed to live bullets. Specifically, what is a blank? An empty bullet?
Are the mechanics involved when firing a blank different from what's
involved when firing a live bullet? I seem to recall that a famous
comedian accidentally killed himself by firing a blank into his head--he
erroneously assumed that, because the gun was loaded with blanks, he
would not be injured. What was it that actually killed him? --Joy Abbott

SDSTAFF Una replies:

First let's define our terms. What most people call bullets are properly
called cartridges, which consist of several parts:

A shell or casing of metal; 
A bullet, the metal projectile that flies through the air; 
A primer, a small charge that ignites when struck by the gun's firing pin; 
and  
Gunpowder, which is ignited by the primer, generating the rapidly expanding
gases that propel the bullet down the barrel of the firearm. 

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mblanks.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 10/09/1987

Dear Cecil: 

I have utter and absolute trust that the Earth is a sphere. And yet I
have never had any personal experience that would convince me of this. I
have accepted it as a matter of faith. As someone said, "Common sense is
what tells us that the world is flat." For all I know from personal
experience, the world might be shaped like a frisbee, which is round and
has a curved surface, but is not a sphere. Perhaps Magellan, in
circumnavigating the Earth, sailed in a circle around the North Pole in
the middle of the frisbee to get back to his starting point. Taking the
word of the astronauts is like taking the word of somebody about his
religious experiences--interesting but not convincing.  My unfounded
albeit profound faith that the world is a sphere is matched only by my
faith that you can come up with some proof I can personally experience
to prove that our planet is indeed an orb. --Allan H., Topanga,
California  

Cecil replies:  

I know you mean this question to seem delightfully impertinent, 
Allan, but you're about 30 years too late.  There are, after all, 
innumerable photographs of the earth taken from space which reveal
it to be spherical. Assuming you are not about to join the Flat Earth
Society in proclaiming these a fake, I gather your complaint is that 
looking at a photo doesn't qualify as "personal experience." Big deal. 
I've never personally experienced Disney World, either. Most of what 
we know about anything depends on taking somebody else's word for it.  

That said, there are a few home-demonstration-type indications--
not proofs--that the earth is a ball. We'll start with ones you've already 
thought of: 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_087.html

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