Things that science cannot explain ■ Universe:
1. What is the universe made of?
One answer that comes out of my mouth is that it is made up of those shining stars. But in recent decades, scientists have found that this answer is increasingly incorrect. Astronomers believe that the matter that makes up stars, planets and galaxies, and of course our matter, or ordinary matter, accounts for less than 5% of the total mass of the universe. They estimate that another 25% may be dark matter composed of undiscovered particles. What about the remaining 70%? Astronomers believe that the power of dark energy may have accelerated the expansion of the universe. What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy? Scientists are using accelerators and telescopes to find the answers to these questions. If they find the answers, their meaning must be universal.
2. Are we unique in the universe?
45 years ago, astronomer Falk? Drake initiated the Ozma project to explore extraterrestrial civilization for the first time, and used a huge antenna (radio telescope) to receive signals from extraterrestrial civilization. Forty-five years later, the efforts of astronomers continue. However, even the biggest project to date? Phoenix? Plan, we haven't found any radio signals from alien civilizations yet.
■ Earth article:
3. How does the interior of the earth work?
More than 40 years ago, there was a revolution in earth science. The theory of plate tectonics has updated the knowledge about the earth itself. However, questions about the internal structure of the earth still follow the knowledge before the revolution. What scientists have done in these 40 years is to further refine this egg model into crust, mantle and core. With the help of more and more advanced seismic imaging technology, scientists are studying the operation process of this huge machine. But it may take half a century to start another scientific revolution.
4. How hot will the global greenhouse become?
Although the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will definitely continue to increase in this century, although this increase will definitely bring about global warming, the degree of warming is still uncertain. Scientists generally believe that doubling the concentration of carbon dioxide in this century will bring about an increase in the temperature of 1.5℃~ 4.5℃. But this is not accurate enough. Scientists are developing new mathematical models to try to make these figures more convincing.
■ Mathematics and Physics Articles:
5. Can the laws of physics be unified?
Apple falls to the ground, lightning flashes across the sky, uranium atoms in nuclear power plant reactors decay at the same time to release energy, and super accelerators smash protons: these phenomena represent the functions of four basic forces in nature, namely gravity, electromagnetic force, weak force and strong force. All physical phenomena in the universe can be explained by these four basic forces. But scientists are not satisfied. Is it possible to unify these four forces into one? In 1960s, physicists found that weak force and electromagnetic force could be unified. They are different sides of the same thing, collectively referred to as electric weak force. But can the other two forces be unified with it?
6. Is there a deeper principle under quantum uncertainty and nonlocality?
It has been more than 100 years since the birth of quantum theory, which has produced convincing application results, but also brought counter-intuition: the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics points out that we can't accurately obtain the momentum and position of an object at the same time. However, the nonlocality makes the entangled state of two particles in quantum entangled state collapse at the same time, no matter how far apart they are. Einstein once said that although quantum mechanics left a deep impression on him, but? An inner voice told me that this was not true.
7. How far can we push chemical self-assembly?
In a sense, chemists are a group of people who like to invent most because they are always making new molecules. Although chemists can make very complicated chemical structures now, can they make the work simple and complicated? That is to say, let? Raw materials? The atom itself? Assembly? Into a complex structure, just like the self-assembly characteristics of life. There have been some examples of chemical self-assembly, such as making double-layer membrane structures similar to cell membranes. But more advanced self-assembly, such as making integrated circuits from the bottom up, is still a dream.
8. What is the limit of traditional calculation?
Some things seem simple, but they are very complicated to solve. For example, a salesman has to travel around several interconnected cities, so how can he get the shortest total distance? The increase in the number of cities will frighten the most powerful electronic computers. In the 1940s, Shannon, the father of information theory, put forward the physical laws of information storage and transmission (in bit form). No traditional computer can surpass this law. So, how powerful a computer can be built in engineering? However, non-traditional computers, such as quantum computers, may not be subject to these restrictions.
■ Biology:
9. What is the biological basis of consciousness?
/kloc-French philosophers in the 0 th and 7 th centuries have a famous saying: I think therefore I am? It can be seen that consciousness has always been a topic of philosophical discussion. Modern science believes that consciousness comes from the cooperation of hundreds of millions of neurons in the brain. But this is still too general. Specifically, how do neurons produce consciousness? In recent years, scientists have found some methods and tools to study this most subjective and personal thing objectively, and with the help of patients with brain injury, scientists can get a glimpse of the mystery of consciousness. In addition to understanding how consciousness works, scientists also want to know the answer to a deeper question: why does it exist and how does it originate?
10, what controls organ regeneration?
Some creatures have extraordinary repair skills: cut earthworms can regrow half their bodies, while salamanders can rebuild damaged limbs. In contrast, human regeneration skills seem to be a little worse. No one can grow fingers again, and the use of bones is always the same. A little comforting is the liver. The partially resected liver can be restored to its original state. Scientists have found that animals that can regenerate organs, when necessary, the genetic program of embryonic development is restarted in order to grow new organs. So can humans replace their own parts in a similar way under manual control?
1 1. How do skin cells become nerve cells?
In the middle of last century, biologists put the frog's somatic cell nucleus into the enucleated egg cell of frog, and as a result, tadpoles were cloned. In recent years, the research on human embryonic stem cells is in full swing. By putting the human nucleus into an egg cell, scientists expect to produce various human cells, such as nerve cells, osteoblasts, myocardial cells and so on. Although scientists have achieved some success, they still know little about the reasons why this somatic cell nuclear transfer technology can succeed. Indeed, enucleated eggs play a vital role in this process, but what is the specific mechanism?
12. How did a somatic cell become a whole plant?
In a sense, plants seem to be more flexible than animals. Plant somatic cells can be transformed into plant embryonic cells again without complicated somatic cell nuclear transfer technology. Scientists have used this characteristic of plants for a long time. With a small piece of plant tissue, you can cultivate seedlings that can be used in a forest in the laboratory. But why do plant cells have such flexibility? Scientists have found some clues, such as the role of auxin in this process.
13. How and where did life originate?
Scientists have discovered microbial fossils 3.4 billion years ago, and traces of biological photosynthesis can also be found on older rocks. So which of the two pillars of life, protein and DNA, first appeared on the earth? Still together? Scientists believe that it is more likely that RNA appeared earlier than the first two. Another question is, what environment did life originate from? One hypothesis is that life originated from hot water at the bottom of the sea. Now, on the one hand, scientists explore the development process from simple organic matter to self-replicating organic matter in the laboratory, on the other hand, studying comets and Mars will also bring important enlightenment to this problem.
14. What determines species diversity?
This is a planet full of life, but not every corner of life is equally prosperous. The number of species living in some areas exceeds that in others. Tropical zone has higher species diversity than cold zone. Why is this happening? Just because the tropics are hotter than the frigid ones? Scientists believe that the interaction between biology and environment plays a key role in diversity. Of course, there are other forces that change diversity, such as the relationship between predation and prey. However, the first problem facing scientists is how to obtain basic data about global species diversity and how many species there are.
15. How did cooperative behavior evolve?
You can easily see altruism in social animals. For example, bees send food information to other bees. Humans and other primate societies are also full of cooperative behaviors. Darwin, the founder of evolution theory, put forward some explanations for the phenomenon of cooperation, such as mutual help between relatives, which will actually promote the possibility of the whole family's reproduction. Now, scientists are looking for the genetic basis of cooperative behavior. Game theory is a mathematical theory about competition, cooperation and rules of the game, which can also help scientists understand how cooperative behavior works. Darwin observed the phenomenon of cooperation and explained it. Today's scientists hope to make this explanation deeper and answer how it came into being.
16, how to get a panoramic view from a large number of biological data?
Life is so complicated that almost every biologist can only explore in a small field. Although each field produces a lot of descriptive data, scientists can get an overall concept from these massive data, such as how organisms work. The emerging discipline of systems biology provides some hope for answering these questions. It tries to connect all branches of biology by means of mathematics, engineering and computer science, and make biology more quantitative. However, no one knows whether these methods can finally let scientists know the whole picture of biological operation.
The paranormal science explained that there was an old-fashioned community, the one without an elevator. The light at the entrance of the building suddenly broke down, flickering, and many residents found that every time they came back from walking their dogs, the dogs would bark at the entrance of the building, and they were particularly afraid and refused to go in. After being dragged in, the dog will howl.
So there is a rumor in the community that dogs can see unclean things. A few days ago, someone died on the first floor, and now it is estimated that he has come back to commit crimes or something. Suddenly, the community was immersed in an atmosphere of terror.
Finally, it was found that the buried wires were exposed after years of disrepair, so the light contact was not good, flickering, and people could not feel it when wearing shoes, but the dog would get an electric shock every time he passed there?
Explaining paranormal phenomena with science Although researchers have blamed electromagnetic fields and infrasound waves, the real reason behind the haunting may be in our brains.
The real reason behind being haunted may be in our brains.
The explanation of ghost phenomenon may be more terrible than ghost itself:? You can't even trust your own brain. ?
Sina Science and Technology News Beijing time165438+1October 4 th news, ghost stories often happen to people who don't know the truth, so who says it won't happen to themselves? These stories will be passed on by word of mouth, and the sources are usually reliable. Coupled with today's Internet, these stories have reached almost everyone's ears.
Quiet environment will also remind skeptics of ghost theory. If the ghost crying in the middle of the night is not really a ghost crying, who is it? Although researchers blame electromagnetic fields and infrasound waves, the real reason behind the troubles may be in our brains.
Catch ghosts in the sound
A specious explanation of haunted houses is that people do react to something in the environment, but in fact, this? what's up Much more common than ghosts who don't rest.
Infrasound waves may be one of the culprits. 1998, researcher, Coventry University, UK, Vic? Vic Tandy and his colleague Tony? Professor Tony Lawrence wrote a paper based on Tandy's strange working experience in a medical machinery manufacturing shop. The clerk said they had a creepy feeling that there was something in the room. Existence? . Tandy wasn't there before, but one night, he suddenly felt cold and gloomy. He checked the room to make sure that no bottle containing medical gas leaked, and then sat back at his desk. At this moment, he suddenly saw a gray figure from the corner of his eye. When he got up the courage to take a good look at it, it disappeared into the shadows again.
Later, in the process of cutting metal, Tandy suddenly thought, could it be that acoustic energy caused these inexplicable experiences of him and his colleagues? They wrote in a paper published in the Journal of the Institute of Physical Research on 1998 that after a fan in the building was turned off, that? Ghosts? It disappeared.
But it is much more difficult to prove this. From a gust of wind from air conditioners to earthquakes, many things will produce infrasound waves. In one experiment, researchers hid some infrasound generators in Mary King Lane, a tourist attraction featuring ghosts in Edinburgh. This alley is now buried deep underground, but in the17th century, it was once an alley and passage connecting a series of high-rise buildings. According to local legend, the patients with the Black Death were sealed in these high walls. During the Ghost Festival in 2007, some uninformed sightseeing groups came here. When they walked in these creepy alleys, infrasound waves echoed around them.
The experimental results show that playing infrasound or noise will not change the number of people who report strange experiences. However, in the tour groups accompanied by infrasound waves, the total number of such experiences did increase, because more people reported that they had experienced several creepy feelings. At the same time, about 20% of the tourists in these sightseeing groups reported that they felt the surrounding temperature rise during the sightseeing. Previous research shows that only 5% of tourists who broadcast noise reported this phenomenon.
This is not enough to prove that ghosts are caused by infrasound waves. After all, people in haunted houses usually only feel the temperature drop, not too warm. In addition, in the infrasound environment, why do ordinary people report more strange experiences, but the number has not increased? We still don't know why.
electromagnetic field
Another explanation for ghosts is electromagnetic energy. There may be no ghosts around us, but there are many electromagnetic fields generated by wires and electronic equipment. So, will electricity create a ghostly atmosphere for us?
Some small experiments show that electromagnetic fields may really have this ability. In 2000, Michael, a cognitive neuroscientist at Laurenson University in Canada? Poesinger and his colleagues used a magnetic field to stimulate the brain of a 45-year-old man who claimed to have seen a ghost. Through the magnetic field, they managed to get this man? See again? I have seen ghosts similar to those I saw many years ago, and I also have corresponding fears. The research report was published in the journal Perception and Motor Skills.
The next year, in the same journal, Poesinger and his colleagues published another research result: a young girl said that the Holy Spirit made her pregnant and she could feel the baby sitting on her shoulder. The girl has suffered brain injury before, but brain injury is not the only reason for this epiphany: there is an electronic clock beside her bed, which emits magnetic pulses similar to those that can induce seizures in mice. When the electronic clock was removed, her feelings disappeared immediately. Poesinger and his colleagues believe that some people's temporal lobe is particularly susceptible to interference, and the temporal lobe happens to be the place where the brain synthesizes information.
Christopher, a psychologist at King Smith College, University of London? Francci, who has been studying the origin of strange phenomena, said that from patients who have undergone brain surgery, we can see the importance of temporal lobe to people's feelings about reality. Can the doctor really stimulate the intersection of the middle temporal lobe and the parietal lobe, that is, the temporal lobe junction? Out of body experience? This experience is controlled.
In your mind.
But Francci and his colleagues failed to find enough evidence to prove that infrasound and electromagnetic fields can explain the ghost phenomenon. He and his research team built a hut, hoping to create it here? Science? Haunted phenomenon. Participants need to stay in infrasound and complex electromagnetic fields for 50 minutes (or do nothing), and then report their feelings in the house.
Most people say that they have some strange feelings in the experiment. About 80% people say they feel dizzy, half say they feel dizzy, and 23% say they feel their souls leave their bodies. It is worth noting that 23% people feel the existence of ghosts, while 8% people feel extremely scared.
Some of these experiments did imitate the feeling of being haunted; But others are less effective (for example, in one experiment, 5% people said they felt aroused). But when researchers analyze the data, they realize that the experimental conditions themselves are not important. The electromagnetic field can't be turned on, and the infrasound can't be released. The result makes no difference. However, they also found that the individual's feeling level of suggestion will have a great influence on the experimental results.
? The simplest explanation is that if you say to those who are easily hinted, come in, you will have some strange experiences. Then some people will really have strange experiences. ? Francci said.
As Francci's research shows, the real reason for being haunted by ghosts may lie in the human brain itself. In a study published in the journal Perception and Motor Skills on 1996, two subjects were asked to keep a diary for one month and write down what appeared at home. Haunted? Phenomenon. As a result, after this, they suddenly saw things like ghosts everywhere. In the follow-up study, the researchers put forward a hypothesis that the haunted phenomenon only occurs because people misunderstand some ambiguous events as supernatural phenomena, and then they are led to look for something more bizarre.
Some basic personality traits may make it easy to think of a shadow as a ghost at night. A recent survey by Chapman University in California shows that the more timid people are, the more likely they are to believe in paranormal phenomena. In another study published in Cognition in August, 20 13, scientists found that people who believe in paranormal phenomena are more likely to believe in the illusion of the soul carrier, or believe that something is the deliberate result of a spiritual entity.