# Questions you should know (the answers to) but don't **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148 "2025-12-29T19:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/21 "2025-12-30T18:16:31Z")
[![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/D7Rl8et.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/D7Rl8et) ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/22 "2025-12-30T18:36:54Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > because this is the Dope Because this is the Dope, I think one shouldn’t leave out the cyclical variation in day length, especially when offering such an elaborate explanation. Nor should solstices and equinoxes be omitted. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/23 "2025-12-30T18:38:10Z")
Unless it’s a regional thing, I’m pretty sure epitome is “eh PIT a me”: [How to pronounce EPITOME in English](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/epitome) I always thought Malachai was “MAH luh kye”, but I don’t really know what that is, maybe a biblical name? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/24 "2025-12-30T18:42:56Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > I think one shouldn’t leave out the cyclical variation in day length I mentioned it in the note on seasons being cultural, that the 4 seasons model is primarily based on day lengths. The equinoxes still fall in that category. But that’s not the only way civilizations have delineated seasons. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/25 "2025-12-30T19:01:18Z")
Seasons are a scientific fact. Astronomical seasons are defined by Earth’s position in its orbit and the tilt of Earth’s axis. Here’s an explanations from NASA Space Place: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/rL4z1ZF.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/rL4z1ZF) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/26 "2025-12-30T19:01:29Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I always thought Malachai was “MAH luh kye”, but I don’t really know what that is, maybe a biblical name? Yes. Also the name of a character in that corn field movie. “He wants YOU, Malachai!” Also, I think **Just\_Asking\_Questions** was speaking about how he pronounced those words as a child. And “Siohban” is something akin to “Shuh-VONN”. As to the OP, I can’t think of anything I should know the answers to but don’t. I’m quite sure that the things I don’t know the answers to are legion, but they’re not things I necessarily _should_ know. I knew about Bonn because I lived in Germany for three years during the eighties. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/27 "2025-12-30T19:09:38Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > Seasons are a scientific fact. Yes… anyway… sorry for the hijack. Your point is that it’s the tilt, not the distance from the sun, that chiefly determines our seasons. Let’s leave it at that and forget my tangential aside. It doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/28 "2025-12-30T19:32:52Z")
According to Google Siohban is pronounced Shih Vahn. Somehow I had the idea it was pronounced Sephan. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/29 "2025-12-30T19:36:30Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > So is it the shortened hours of daylight or is it sun’s rays hitting perpendicular to the atmosphere (penetrating) versus on an angle (reflected)? I think it’s the angles that matter more (though not necessarily due to atmospheric reflection). From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Sun_angle_on_climate#Obliquity,_seasonality,_and_climate): > Differing sun angle results in differing temperatures between lower and higher [latitudes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latitude), and between winter and summer at the same latitude (although “winter” and “summer” are more complicated in the [tropics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropics).[[a]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Sun_angle_on_climate#cite_note-4)[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Sun_angle_on_climate#cite_note-NASABBuis2021-5) > > At fixed latitude, the size of the seasonal difference in sun angle (and thus the seasonal temperature variation) is equal to double the [Earth’s axial tilt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic#Obliquity_of_the_ecliptic). For example, with an axial tilt is 23°, and at a latitude of 45°, then the summer’s peak sun angle is 68° (giving sin(68°) = 93% [insolation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insolation) at the surface), while winter’s least sun angle is 22° (giving sin(22°) = 37% insolation at the surface). Thus, the greater the axial tilt, the stronger the seasons’ variations at a given latitude.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Sun_angle_on_climate#cite_note-NASABBuis2021-5) It’s one reason the poles are so much colder than the tropics, even when they have nearly 24-hour sun. (The reflectivity of snow also helps with this, so it’s kinda a feedback loop… the colder it gets, the more ice & snow form, the more gets reflected, etc. Or these days, the opposite way… the warmer it gets, the more the ice melts, and the more the earth absorbs, so the warmer it gets…) Citation 4 leads back to an earlier NASA cite on the Milankovitch cycles. It’s a good read: [Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles and Their Role in Earth's Climate - NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/30 "2025-12-30T19:39:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > For the record, for me they are > See O Ban > Ma LA chee > EP ee tome That’s the way I read them when I first ever saw them. No one without either having a knowledge of Irish spelling or knowing how it was pronounced in advance would get “Siobhan.” I first was familiar with the name “Malachi” because of actor Malachi Throne. (Our home wasn’t big on Testaments, either Old or New). And as far as I’m concerned “Epitome” should have three syllables. I don’t care that it had four in Greek. This is English. Unfortunately, it’s not a word that is often used in conversation, so I don’t see it gaining much currency among lexicographers. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/31 "2025-12-30T19:39:57Z")
I guess it depends. I’m the kind of person who wants to know that Thor appeared in Journey Into Mystery 83 rather than “Thor first appeared in 1962” ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/32 "2025-12-30T19:48:18Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Siohban I only know this one because of actress Siobhan Cullen, who starred in the series Obituary on Hulu (I recommend it if you haven’t seen it). I had to look up the pronunciation of her name since I had absolutely no idea how to pronounce it. So, until last year, I didn’t know how to pronounce it either. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/33 "2025-12-30T20:04:41Z")
I have a feeling most people don’t know the answers to the following: “What is gravity?” Most people would say, “It is why things fall to Earth.” I suspect most people do not know it applies to _any_ two masses, and not just between Earth and objects. “Plants are mostly made of carbon. Where does the carbon come from when the plant is growing?” I suspect most would say, “From the dirt.” But it doesn’t come from the dirt. It comes from the air. “How does water get to the leaves at the top of a very tall tree?” Most people have no idea. Sciency-types will say “capillary forces,” which is incorrect. Or they might guess the tree is pulling a vacuum, which is also incorrect; a perfect vacuum can only pull water up to around 34 feet. The correct answer is that the tree produces a _negative_ pressure at the top of the tree, allowing water to be pulled up even hundreds of feet. [snark] “When geese fly in a V formation, one side is usually longer than the other. Do you know why?” The correct answer is because the longer side has more geese. [\snark] ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/34 "2025-12-30T20:09:45Z")
“How is the energy transferred in power cables?” Most have no idea. Smarty types, even EEs, will say the electrons in the conductors are carrying the energy. This is incorrect. The energy is carried by electric and magnetic fields moving as waves, the vast majority of which are outside the conductors. The wires are there to guide these fields, and the electrons are sorta along for the ride. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/35 "2025-12-30T20:26:02Z")
School generally does a decent job of explaining gravity; it’s more that students forget or tune out the details. Teachers could probably place more emphasis on the role of gases in plant growth, since that’s a point many people miss. Concepts like energy transmission in power lines or the idea of negative pressure, though, are more complex and harder for the average person to grasp and remember. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/36 "2025-12-30T20:34:04Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Sciency-types will say “capillary forces,” which is incorrect. Or they might guess the tree is pulling a vacuum, which is also incorrect; a perfect vacuum can only pull water up to around 34 feet. The correct answer is that the tree produces a _negative_ pressure at the top of the tree, allowing water to be pulled up even hundreds of feet. I always thought it was capillary action. What is negative pressure, if not a vacuum? I’m not be argumentative, I just never heard of negative pressure in terms that did not equate it with a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/37 "2025-12-30T20:34:38Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The energy is carried by electric and magnetic fields moving as waves, the vast majority of which are outside the conductors. Is there a good visualization of this? I never understood this either. Also… if most of it is outside the conductor… how does cable shielding work? Why doesn’t the insulation block the fields? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/38 "2025-12-30T20:37:03Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > “How does water get to the leaves at the top of a very tall tree?” Most people have no idea. Sciency-types will say “capillary forces,” which is incorrect. Or they might guess the tree is pulling a vacuum, which is also incorrect; a perfect vacuum can only pull water up to around 34 feet. The correct answer is that the tree produces a _negative_ pressure at the top of the tree, allowing water to be pulled up even hundreds of feet. But how does a tree create negative pressure? So far as I know, that mechanism is, in fact, capillary action. Though it’s certainly weird. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/39 "2025-12-30T20:38:32Z")
Oh, here’s one: What’s the primary excretory organ in the human body? Your first guess is probably wrong, and your second guess probably is, too. It’s the lungs. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148/40 "2025-12-30T20:41:16Z")
That’s a good one! I thought mouth, anus, and skin — all wrong! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-you-should-know-the-answers-to-but-dont/1026148.md?page=3)