Unanswered Questions in Science

[Andromeda321]

Hey all,
I'm compiling a list of unanswered questions in science for a friend of mine. I've gotten a few down (origins of cosmic rays, what dark matter is, etc) and am scouting around for a few more. So what in your opinion is one of the greatest unanswered questions in science to date? Thanks.

[Lurker]

wild stab here...

Are protons stable?
What is gravity?
Are there additional dimensions?
Does the light in the refrigerator go off when the door closes?

[mickal555]

I think they recently found the origins to cosmic rays

[mickal555]

Whats how huh............ singularity?

The big ones

What is the grand theory of everything? ;
Quantum physics and Relativity combined?

Meaning of life................

are we alone....................

Why douse food that is healthy taste bad to humans......................?

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

What happened before The Plank Time?

Are there Parallel Universes?

Did ANY Universe Precede/Give Birth, to Ours?

What ACTUALLY, Goes into Hot Dogs?

[mickal555]

Speaking of hotdogs

Whats is a corn dog?
Is ti a hot dog with corn in it?
or a hotdog made out of corn?
Dous't sound very nice to me


What's the temperature of a candle flame?

[Lurker]

sorry Andromeda... my bad...

I set a poor example and now everyone is following my lead!! 8)

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Speaking of hotdogs

Whats is a corn dog?
Is ti a hot dog with corn in it?
or a hotdog made out of corn?
Dous't sound very nice to me

It's a Normal Hot Dog:

Batter Fried in Corn Meal!

\/

What's the temperature of a candle flame?

Depends

What Colour Flame?

[crateris]

As Bill Cosby queried in a long-ago comedy album:

Why is there air?



C.

[Swift]

I think we only have the beginning of an understanding of how protein folding works. I think the ultimate would be to want a protein with a desired structure and chemical function and be able to work backwards all the way to the DNA sequence to describe that protein.

How exactly does life arise? How was genetic information first encoded? Does life have to be water based?

Are there stable (or semi-stable = half-lives in years or longer) elements beyond the current high atomic number (like in the 120+ range)?

What is the chemical/cellular/physiological nature of human consciousness? Can human consciousness be stored in another form (electronic for example)? Can artificial intelligence be created?

Does other intelligent life exist in our universe? In our galaxy? How common is life and/or intelligent life?

[Celestial Mechanic]

As long as Bill Cosby's question "Why is there air?" has been mentioned, (answer: for inflating basketballs), let me mention my definition of mass: "Mass is what enables us to sit and wait."

Now a more serious answer for Andromeda321: The top question to me is, "Where does mass come from?" The conventional answer involves the Higgs boson, and I'm pretty sure that it is correct. But when I look at the Lagrangian and see a mass term with the wrong sign (which, paradoxically does not bother me but I can't explain why briefly), I ask, "OK, where did THAT mass come from?" In the same vein I ask, "Why the particular values of the masses of the charged leptons that we observe, the quarks that we sort of observe, and the masses of the neutrinos that we haven't quite observed?"

[Lurker]

But when I look at the Lagrangian and see a mass term with the wrong sign (which, paradoxically does not bother me but I can't explain why briefly)

I am curious... I don't mean to hijack Andromeda's thread (which means I am going to go ahead and do exactly that... :wink: ) but can you explain not so briefly why the sign doesn't bother you??

[gzhpcu]

Does Dark Energy really exist and if so what is it? The 5th force?

Are the extra spatial dimensions real or just mathematics?

Is space really expanding?

Is space really curved?

What are the real building blocks of matter?

[mickal555]

What are the real building blocks of matter?

What are the building blocks of the building blocks of matter?
Douse it even matter?

[Excelsior]

Will the universe be reborn someday ?

[Maksutov]

Speaking of hotdogs

Whats is a corn dog?
Is ti a hot dog with corn in it?
or a hotdog made out of corn?
Dous't sound very nice to me

Here's a corn dog.



Corn dogs are not only essential to the national space effort:



but also fundamental to the future of the species:



Corn dogs are an excellent source of calories, fat, cholesterol, and salt, and therefore taste wonderful.

[mickal555]

AHHHHHH..... we call them Dagwood dogs...................I think cause honestly the name corn dog isn't very apatising........ I like them and actively consume them BTW :P

Edit: cause I can't stand to have bad spilling in a post

[Maksutov]

AHHHHHH..... we call them Dagwood dogs...................I think cause honestly the name cord dog isn't very apatising........ I like them and actively consume them BTW :P

"cord dog" is particularly awful. How would you like to woof down dogs made of wood?

How many cord dogs could mickal woof if those cord dogs were made of wood?

Not many would seem to be the answer, if one would ax the question.

[DreadCthulhu]

I think they recently found the origins to cosmic rays

Yeah, comsic rays are caused by the lights in refridgerators when you shut the door.

[papageno]

In the same vein I ask, "Why the particular values of the masses of the charged leptons that we observe, the quarks that we sort of observe, and the masses of the neutrinos that we haven't quite observed?"

There is a nice quote from Einstein, which says (paraphrased): "When God created the Universe, did he have a choice?"

The question is whether the values of the fundamental constants* are arbitrary or not.




* Which characterize the elementary particles and their interactions.