The Top 10 Science Mysteries
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Science helps us better understand ourselves and the world around us—everything from molecular to how our planetary systems work, and science mysteries are fun.
Science is here to help answer questions, from curing deadly diseases to understanding how species have gone extinct.
It has helped prove and disprove many theories and is continually evolving.
The word, scientist, was first mentioned in 1834 after philosopher and historian William Whewell claimed it. Whewell used the word “scientist” to describe one who studies the natural and physical world’s organization and behaviour through observation and experiments.
With the help of our friend science, we all can take advantage of the beautiful technologies it throws at us, going from computers the size of rooms to computers you can hold in your hand.
In addition, now we can conveniently store this technology in our pockets, thanks to Moore’s law. Moore’s law observes that the number of transistors in a condensed circuit will double approximately every 18 months.
This has held firm since 1965, ever since Gordon E. Moore, the founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, brought forth this notion.
If we continue this trend with computers and supercomputers, it won’t be long before it surpasses human intelligence, one of the first solved computer science mysteries.
Will this lead us to a Terminator-based scenario?
Could it help give more advanced solutions to make the world a better place?
Many famous scientists, such as Darwin, Einstein, Tesla, and Newton, have laid the groundwork to understand our Universe better.
A lot of the work they accomplished remains relevant today. Although they didn’t get everything right, some ideas have been added to their already existing platforms, and some things have since been disproven.
Specific topics brought forth by these scientists, still to this day, have yet to explain why it is. But, whether it be a new or older science-based head-scratcher, we will try and find the answer. After all, it’s human nature.
As we advance rapidly, there are still plenty of science mysteries we can’t fully apprehend.
Here are some problems still trying to be understood.
The Top 10 Science Mysteries
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What Causes Gravity? – Science Mysteries
Ever since Sir Isaac Newton observed an apple falling from a tree, he was left to think about the forces of nature and how they work.
Many scientists, ever since, have been trying to understand what causes this phenomenon.
Take Einstein’s theory of relativity, which only explains gravity on a grand scale, explaining why gravity tugs on the matter to form galaxies and stars. However, the math doesn’t work out when you do calculations on smaller gravitational fields.
Gravity is the weakest of all powers in the Universe. Simultaneously, making it the most mysterious, as scientists can’t measure it in a lab setting. Yet, without gravity, we would not exist.
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Why is there a limit to the Speed of Light?
Einstein’s special relativity gives us a theory that provides the speed of light at 186,000 miles per second.
Einstein hypothesized that light travels simultaneously for every person viewing it, regardless of how fast they travel.
Currently, it is unknown why the speed of light is the speed at which it is. However, we know that our Universe and we could not exist without it. This is one of many misunderstood science mysteries.
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What causes Out of Body Experiences (OBE)?
One in 10 people have an out-of-body experience (OBE) several times in their life.
Having an out-of-body experience involves the feeling of floating beyond one’s body.
These astral projections can occur for numerous reasons, usually in a dream state, near-death experience, severe brain trauma, sensory deprivation, significant dehydration and or under the influence of psychedelic drugs.
In neuroscience and psychology, many theories have appeared as to why OBEs occur.
The most common being, an OBE, is an experience from an altered mental state, like in a dream. With recent advancements in technology, scientists can create an illusion of the patient having an OBE while using an MRI machine to see what brain parts are triggered.
However, even with these technological advancements, this theory is still far from any justification for why this happens in the first place.
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The Origin of Life
Evolution has taught us that our closest living ancestor is the chimpanzee in the Darwinian world.
We are even closer concerning the more recently discovered – bonobo chimp from the Congo.
Unlike the screeching screams and fighting in the chimpanzee world, where males are the leaders, laughter can be heard all day where bonobos play and look after one another, and females are the leaders in their clans.
But how and where did life come from in the first place?
Some scientists consider life appeared when our planet was healthy enough to support it.
Leading estimates say Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
The earliest evidence for life on Earth is from fossilized bacteria, coming from Australia’s approximately 3.4 billion years old region.
As old as they are, these bacteria’s biochemistry (which surprisingly are still around today) is so intricate that they have cell walls protecting their DNA, leading scientists to believe that life must have begun much earlier, maybe as far back as 3.8 billion years ago.
Just because they know rough estimates of when life first appeared, scientists are still beyond answering how it got here. It is one of many mind-blowing science mysteries.
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The Placebo Effect
The placebo effect was first observed in the second world war.
Henry Beecher first discovered this effect when he ran out of morphine to treat wounded soldiers.
Instead, he gave them saline as a solution and found that 40 percent of people who received it relieved their pain.
Many experiments have since been conducted to understand why the placebo effect occurs.
In his and many other studies, David Burns MD (creator of cognitive behaviour therapy) showed that a sugar pill was more effective than any anti-depressant or herbs given to the patient to treat depression.
Even when a patient was given a placebo, it still helped heal ailments.
Reasons why the placebo effect works are still a highly debated subject. It is one of the most misunderstood science mysteries.
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Why We Sleep – Science Mysteries
Sleep’s actual function is highly misunderstood, but we know we need to function efficiently and productively.
It is thought that sleep helps restore and rebuild everything we burnt off that day.
Specific genes turn on when we sleep; their sole purpose is restoration.
Brain and memory repossessing is another leading theory; neuro pathways are strengthened when asleep.
The less important ones are weakened, allowing loose connections to emphasize the more important ones.
The average human will spend 24 years of their life asleep.
Those who get less than seven hours have a greater risk of developing depression, brain damage, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. However, getting too much sleep can cause the same risks.
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The Hum
This eerie low-frequency humming noise seems to have appeared out of nowhere.
Reports from all over the globe complain of hearing this sound, and once it moves in, it never leaves.
The Hum is known as the Hum, a steady, throbbing sound heard in Taos, New Mexico; Bristol, England; Winsor, Ontario; and Largs, Scotland.
However, only about two percent of the people live in Hum-prone surroundings, and most of them are ages 55 to 70, according to Geoff Leventhall of Surrey, England.
Bristol is the first place on Earth where the Hum was heard. In the 1970s, some 800 people in that city reported hearing a steady humming sound. All the hum cases seem to have several commonalities.
Usually, the Hum is only heard indoors, and it’s louder at night than during the day.
In addition, the hum is rare in metropolitan areas due to steady background noise in crowded cities.
Some studies have been and are being looked at to figure out the Hum. But no clear answers can yet be given as to why it occurs.
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Intuition
Albert Einstein said that intuition is our most valued asset and the most untapped sense.
Often referred to as a sixth sense, your gut feeling, inner sense, and or instinct.
Intuition is viewed as a method to attain knowledge, perceive information, and decide in stressful situations.
One method to tap into your intuitive sense is to learn to meditate.
Doing so drops the ego, allowing you to find answers within.
Inside the world of science, how do you even study something invisible that magically comes out of nowhere?
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Déjà Vu
Déjà vu is a French term for “already seen.”
We all have experienced a new place and feel as if we have been there before. But unfortunately, we sometimes feel like we have dreamt of that experience in the past.
This occurs more often in kids between the ages of six and 10.
It is impossible to re-create a Déjà vu experience, so studying it makes it next to an impossibility.
Therefore, research on Déjà Vu is put into two classifications: experimental studies and observational studies.
In experimental studies, scientists recreate Déjà Vu’s experiences in individuals.
The thought behind these studies is that if we can learn what causes Déjà Vu, we might understand where it comes from.
Experts measure the Déjà Vu experience (how often it happens, when it occurs, to whom it affects, etc.) and record it, seeking out patterns.
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Dark Matter – Science Mysteries
More is unknown about dark energy and dark matter than what is known about it.
Scientists now understand how much dark energy there is due to how it affects the expansion of the Universe.
Otherwise, it is a complete mystery.
It turns out that about 68 percent of the Universe is dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 27 percent.
The rest, which is everything on Earth, everything ever observed with all of our technologies, all other cases only add up to under five percent of the Universe.
Any space between objects is considered dark energy and dark matter.
If you can solve why this is, you will be the next Nobel prize recipient in science.