Recently an outbuilding at a nuclear power plant received a glancing blow from a tornado. Fortunately no real harm was done, but it started me wondering: are nuclear power plants built to withstand a direct hit from a tornado? -- Dee Barnett, Fort Worth

I read a letter to Dear Abby from someone who had served cupcakes made with Kahlua liqueur. Abby said enough alcohol remained to affect someone with alcohol sensitivity. In my opinion, the woman claiming to be drunk from a cupcake was just trying to get attention. How much alcohol is there in spiked cupcakes? How many people are so hypersensitive that one cupcake would make them drunk? Finally, what products would those people need to avoid? - Charlie in Alabama

In the Donald E. Westlake novel Drowned Hopes, character Tom Jimson says Oklahoma remained dry following the repeal of Prohibition and was so feisty about it that officials arrested a bartender serving drinks on a through train. In revenge, the passenger railroads pulled their trains out of Oklahoma, with the result that old railroad towns became ghost towns-even Amtrak didn't provide service. Is there anything to this?  -- Anthony Creech

Recently my roommate told me about the 1932 "emu war" in Australia. He said 1932 was a dry year that made 20,000 emus restless, causing them to invade a residential neighborhood en masse. The Australian military had to take them out with heavy artillery. Is this true? -- Evan, Greensboro, North Carolina

I've been hearing about the positive effects of binaural beats and how they can alter your state of mind. Can listening to a strange tone for hours on end really put me in a different mood other than annoyed? -Liam, Singapore

In the movie Rocky IV, Ivan Drago registers a 2,150-psi punch. That seems unrealistic to me, and yet I'm hearing Internet rumors about MMA fighters and boxers coming close to that number. Is it possible to throw a punch that hard? What would that sort of power do to someone's face? -- Dave

If I take a piece of pizza that's been sitting on the table awhile and microwave it for one minute, would that kill bacteria and decrease the chance of food poisoning?  -- David Chattin-McNichols

How many years ahead of us is DARPA, technologically, and what secrets do you think they may be hiding from us? - A curious kid

I recently read an article about a Navy SEAL sniper. The author lists possible variables that go into determining a shot, one of which is the rotation of the earth. How exactly does this affect a bullet in flight? -Jason, Sacramento

I remember a story from the 80s about lime Jell-O giving off brainwaves. When I mentioned this the other day I got into a long argument about microtubules, consciousness, and superstrings and need a quick shut-'em-up. Anything to this? -Mungsback

I recently stumbled on the online Straight Dope and, since you seem to be the guru of all things, decided to ask a question. How many years ahead of us is DARPA, technologically, and what secrets do you think they may be hiding from us? -- A curious kid

Why does a male feel nauseous, possibly to the point of vomiting, after being struck in the genitals? Is there some sort of gonadal-gastrointestinal connection? -John and Sheri, Charlottesville

Is it true Native Americans cut off the noses of adulterous wives? Sounds like European propaganda about "savages."

We recently learned a rapist was loose in our neighborhood when my roommate got an an e-mail from her school that included a link to a police sketch. This got me thinking about the accuracy of police sketches. How much should I trust the rendering we saw? Has anyone done a study comparing sketches to the actual suspects who were later apprehended?

I looked up rock music's effect on the brain and found this: "Bob Larson, a Christian minister and former rock musician, remembers that in the 70s teens would bring raw eggs to a rock concert and put them on the front of the stage. The eggs would be hard boiled by the music before the end of the concert and could be eaten. Dr. Earl W. Flosdorf and Dr. Leslie A. Chambers showed that proteins ...