The Straight Dope: Why do cockroaches die on their backs?

[Send questions for Cecil Adams: cecil@straightdope.com](mailto:cecil@straightdope.com) FOLLOW CECIL ADAMS ON [TWITTER]( AND [FACEBOOK](! [831209rescan] THREADSPOTTING: THE BEST OF THE STRAIGHT DOPE MESSAGE BOARD — 11/29/2019 NOTE: This week's Straight Dope mailing was delayed by a failure at the company that manages our mail campaigns. We sincerely regret the error and expect to be back on schedule next week. Thank you for your patience. Great ads sell product. What these ads are doing, uh, we're not sure. [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 — 12/09/1983 Dear Cecil: While working part-time in the food service at USC, I had the opportunity to see thousands of dead cockroaches. One thing about these roaches intrigues me: why did they all die on their backs? Is it programmed into their tiny little genes, or do they do it just to bug us? — Leslie, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Cecil replies: Frankly, if I saw thousands of dead cockroaches at the food service where I went to school, I’d have other things on my mind than why they all died on their backs. Besides, they don’t always die that way — basically it depends on how the little scumbags happen to meet their Maker. Cut to the present … [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE STAFF REPORT — 10/18/2005 Dear Straight Dope: What's at the earth's core? Molten lava? Rock? Hell? Someone told me no one knows for sure. — B SDStaff Karen Lingel replies: Making vacation plans, are we? The inner core of the earth is a hot, dense solid sphere, composed primarily of iron, with some nickel. Its diameter is about 2400 km, about 19% of the earth’s diameter. There is some evidence [see reference 1] that the core is in hexagonal crystalline form, possibly one giant crystal! [Click here]( for more. STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 — 12/26/2008 Dear Cecil: As I stare into the beautiful dark sky above my home in Hawaii and see all the stars and satellites, I ponder the possibility of "space accidents." With all those satellites up there, are there any collisions? I don't suppose anybody is handing out OUIs (for orbiting under the influence), but how do they decide what satellite should go where? Who oversees all those orbits? Is it just a stellar free-for-all? — Roy Orbits Son Cecil replies: No, but it’s not iron discipline either. To date we’ve been content to let just about anybody heave stuff into orbit, requiring only minimal reporting for most launches. But with increasing commercialization of space, things are starting to get crowded up there — the Union of Concerned Scientists lists 898 active satellites, operated by everybody from the U.S. to Luxembourg. Given the vastness of space, even in earth’s immediate vicinity, it’s not like we’re talking bumper-to-bumper traffic. But consider: [Click here]( for more. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [View this message as a webpage](. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. To advertise on The Straight Dope, contact Rich Hummel at rhummel@suntimes.com [Privacy Policy/Terms of Use]( • [Unsubscribe]( © 2019 Straight Dope, LLC. 30 N Racine Ave. Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60607