What's your imponderable?

I like trivia.

Some influences:

• Imponderables - The word imponderable itself is, according to Merriam-Webster, from 1794, but the series ran from 1986-2006. It asked the kind of questions I ask about everyday things like: why are the wafers they cut CPUs out of round when the CPUs are rectangles and squares?
• The Guinness Book of World Records - I read a few of the actual book cover to cover!
• Forums and chatrooms - You meet all kinds of people who know things and like to share.

It's been a while since I emailed you because what I was doing wasn't working. Meanwhile, the notion to start a Q&A/advice column type newsletter has recurred for over a decade at this point.

So I'm going to try that here with the 129 of you who've signed up to the list. I want to know those oddball ponderings you can't quite figure out how to search for, but know must have an answer.

By the way: the answer for "why are the wafers they cut CPUs out of round when the CPUs are rectangles and squares?" is: the modern process that drives everyone towards TMSC's ever-shrinking nodes starts with spinning silicon in a process called the Czochralski method which produces round ingots of silicon called a boule, and spinning tends to produce rounds things. You can see an explanation for different processes for producing silicon here. And you can see a video that details the process of turning these wafers into CPUs here.

You can sign up or manage your subscription here. I'll set up a dedicated newsletter for this if it takes off.

So: what's your imponderable? Reply and let me know. I'll answer it in the newsletter if I can.