What's the Straight Dope on radiation hormesis? From what I understand, this hypothesis rejects the current wisdom that if a lot of radiation is very bad, a little bit of radiation is at least somewhat bad. These folks claim a little bit of radiation might actually be good. Sound science or voodoo? - harriswillys

I've heard coconut juice is almost identical to human blood plasma, and has been used as a plasma substitute during wartime. I asked a friend from Vietnam who lived there during the war about this, and she was very matter-of-fact about the use of coconut juice as a substitute for blood plasma during the war by Vietnamese soldiers (on both sides). She told me when they expected a big battle, they would gather coconuts in ...

Why do babies run fevers when teething? More important, why do doctors claim that they don't? Is it just so stupid/inexperienced mamas won't ignore a serious infection when they erroneously attribute a fever to teething? Or do the doctors lie because they don't understand why it happens? That seems unlikely since they admit to not knowing why/how plenty of other things work. I just had to shell out a bit of cash for an ER ...

My brother refuses to go running on days the air quality index tells him not to because he doesn't want to die sooner. My idea: how do we go about proving him insane? -littleWaki

Is the Myers-Briggs personality assessment just an example of modern-day snake oil sold by corporate soothsayers? Or does it really work? Certainly a huge industry has built up around this test. If it needs to be debunked, you're just the guy to do it. -Jim

Dude gets splashed with liquid helium, or blasted with cryogas, or breathed on by a white dragon, and he freezes solid into an immobile, frosty, astonished-looking block of man. Then he teeters over and crash! Smashes into a million pieces. We've seen it in the movies, but has it ever actually happened to anyone? I've seen guys on TV deep-freeze hot dogs and roses and such and smash them with a hammer, but is it even plausible for this to happen to a human? - Brian J. Wright

I am writing to bring to your attention several errors in the recent edition of the Straight Dope titled "Farm-Raised vs. Wild Fish: The Facts." Your poor research and insistence on hyperbole rather than perspective does a terrible disservice to your readers. In many cases, your "facts" are in grave error, not to mention commercially disparaging. -Gavin Gibbons, National Fisheries Institute

I'm on a deserted island. How can I tell which plants are poisonous? Scenario: deserted island, colorful fruits and vegetation. How do I know what to eat and what to feed to my mother-in-law? Any way to differentiate between poisonous and nonpoisonous fruit? - Jermain

Are electric trains and other forms of mass transit an energy loser compared to cars? What with energy transmission costs and poor ridership (especially in California), we supposedly waste energy on subways and buses. I know it's not going to be a popular concept, and it may be best to ignore it, and hopefully encourage more utilization of mass transit rather than discourage it. -Dano

Is it necessary for the fire department to rescue a cat stuck in a tree? C'mon, they got up there. Can't they get down on their own? -Big Dave, Austin, Texas

The restaurant around the corner has started using corn-based "compostable" plastic takeout containers. They have a "7" recycling logo on the bottom, but also say they can't be recycled with other clear plastics. What happens if I just throw them out? - Pattee Smithee

I want to eat farm-raised salmon because wild salmon are depleted by overfishing. On the other hand, I hear there are many pollutants in salmon farms. So which is better, farm-raised or wild? -Judith

I've heard Thomas Jefferson traded marijuana blends with Washington and the other founding fathers. Can anyone verify if true or false? I e-mailed Jefferson scholar Clay Jenkins but got no response. However, on his podcast, The Thomas Jefferson Hour, he did admit to donning his Jefferson impersonation gear and visiting Burning Man. Should I take this as a tacit admission of our third president's smoking habits? - Piddyx

How is it that, in places without natural features such as a river or mountain range to mark a border, U.S. states could establish a nice, even line over hundreds of miles before GPS? - Granite-Morale

I've often heard people say "the camera adds ten pounds" when they're photographed. Is that just an excuse or is there any truth to it? - Emma