We live in a magical world of interactive technology, space probes landing on comets, and refrigerators that judge you on what you're eating for dinner. But despite man's many technological advancements, there are some devastatingly simple things which we still don't understand. From what goes on in your head to what's lurking at the bottom of the ocean, here are seven things even science can't explain.
What did you do during your last dream? Did you make a speech? Maybe you fought a giant purple dragon beast. Whatever it was, it's likely to have some relevance to your day's activity or your psychological makeup. But what science can't tell you about your dreams is what's the point.
Through the detection of rapid eye movement, we can tell precisely when someone is dreaming and using brain imaging technology. We may even be able to view your dreams one day. Whilst dreaming your brains electrical patterns are just as active as when you're awake. So clearly, something important is going on.
Is your brain indexing the day's thoughts? Perhaps, your self-conscious is trying desperately to erase embarrassing memories or could it be that when we dream, we experience some form of an alternate reality.
Read More:
Aside from a few exciting moments such as the SETI Wow signal and the occasional flashing light in the sky, science is yet to prove conclusively the presence of extraterrestrial life. But nor has it proven that such life definitely doesn't exist.
There are 40 billion habitable planets in our galaxy and that's only if we consider what carbon-based organisms like ourselves need to live on. The conditions which created life on Earth are incredibly rare but given the vastness of space and the diversity of conditions in which creatures live on earth, it's a long shot to say there's no chance at all of alien life somewhere in the universe.
We also need to consider our definition of extraterrestrial life because even though NASA predicts we may find something in the next two decades, it's likely to be in the form of minuscule organisms that aren't really capable of holding a conversation.
One man who doesn't want to wait two decades is Stephen Hawking who's teaming up with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to launch a project called Breakthrough listen, a plan which will help astronomers search ten times the amount of sky previously surveyed and with 50 times the sensitivity enabling us to detect signals from 100 closest galaxies with greater accuracy than ever before.
Read More:
If you're reading this article, you're probably conscious. But what is consciousness and what happens to it when we die?
At its most basic level, consciousness is an awareness of your physical surroundings, something many living things also possess. But what we don't know is if our human level of consciousness is truly unique or if other organisms such as animals and plants are aware of their existence too.
A human consciousness has developed far beyond knowing where food lives and where to take a whiz. But could every organism potentially develop this ability? The electrical activity which occurs within the brains network of over a hundred billion nerve cells is a distinctly physical process. But the advanced consciousness creates is something much more than a series of biological survival instincts. So whilst at present, neuroscience can tell us which parts of the brain are responsible for human consciousness.
We really have no clue as to how it works.
Read More:
It is often said that we know more about space than we do the ocean. And while this is hardly something you can accurately measure, it is true that we have a huge knowledge gap when it comes to the earth soggy bottom.
At present, 95% of the ocean remains unmapped to a high degree of resolution and it is estimated that anywhere between one and two-thirds of all marine life has yet to be identified. Of course, the easiest way to identify these creatures is to visit them but that's not easy. The deepest part of the known ocean is Challenger Deep, an area located in the Pacific in the southernmost part of the Mariana Trench. At a depth of 36,200 feet, this place has only been visited four times by humans as opposed to the six manned missions to the moon. But every time we do go, we seem to make amazing discoveries.
On a recent visit in May 2016 by the unmanned deep Discoverer, we encountered a previously unknown new jellyfish species. So what else could be lurking down there in the murky depths of the ocean?
Read More:
Ever since Pluto was given a dishonorable discharge for being too small and puny, you might think the answer to this is simple right? 8 or 7 if you believe the conspiracy that venus is a secret fiery Death Star waiting to annihilate us all. But in actual fact, whatever number astronomers give us is just their best guess because, despite our ability to detect galaxies light-years away, we are still unable to accurately measure the number of planets in our solar backyard.
There are two major areas of uncertainty in our solar system. The first is the area between the Sun and Mercury which is far too bright to accurately analyze without going blind. Then, beyond Uranus all the way to the Oort cloud, we have the opposite problem. It is far too dark. One way of attempting to map this area involves plotting the trajectory of asteroids. And using this data, we've noticed that there is a suspiciously planet shaped gap in the asteroid belt 50 astronomical units beyond Pluto. And also there's potentially a planet four times the size of Jupiter further beyond that.
And one more thing, a theory posted by physicist Richard Mueller claims, there might even be a second Sun. So regardless of how many objects there are in our solar system, it seems the one certainty is at some point we're going to need a brand new song to remember them all.
Read More:
Unless you're a certifiable moron, you know that to make a bicycle go forward, you get on it and you pedal really hard. But in terms of actual physics involved in making a bicycle stay upright, scientific opinion seems to disagree with itself with every passing week.
At first, we thought a law of physics called the conservation of angular momentum was involved which is where your bicycles wobbling or leaning is canceled out by the steering axis which makes up your bike's handlebars in a way similar to how a gyroscope works. But in an edition of the science journal, engineers proved that gyroscopic effects were not needed to make a bicycle stay upright.
Another theory called the trail effect was also ruled out by the experiment. So at this moment in time, we can tell you with accuracy the genetic makeup of a human being but put that on a bicycle and make it deliver newspapers and we got nothing.
Read More:
Do you know your own blood type?
There are more than 20 different blood types which we believe that humans evolved around 20 million years ago. And whilst we don't know why we do know that they all have different properties.
People with type A are more susceptible to smallpox whereas those with type B are more easily affected with E Coli infections. There seems to be a definite link between your vulnerability to disease and blood type. But is there more to it than that?
Read More on Perception 9:
1. Why do we dream?
What did you do during your last dream? Did you make a speech? Maybe you fought a giant purple dragon beast. Whatever it was, it's likely to have some relevance to your day's activity or your psychological makeup. But what science can't tell you about your dreams is what's the point.
Through the detection of rapid eye movement, we can tell precisely when someone is dreaming and using brain imaging technology. We may even be able to view your dreams one day. Whilst dreaming your brains electrical patterns are just as active as when you're awake. So clearly, something important is going on.
Is your brain indexing the day's thoughts? Perhaps, your self-conscious is trying desperately to erase embarrassing memories or could it be that when we dream, we experience some form of an alternate reality.
Read More:
2. Are we alone in the universe?
Aside from a few exciting moments such as the SETI Wow signal and the occasional flashing light in the sky, science is yet to prove conclusively the presence of extraterrestrial life. But nor has it proven that such life definitely doesn't exist.
There are 40 billion habitable planets in our galaxy and that's only if we consider what carbon-based organisms like ourselves need to live on. The conditions which created life on Earth are incredibly rare but given the vastness of space and the diversity of conditions in which creatures live on earth, it's a long shot to say there's no chance at all of alien life somewhere in the universe.
We also need to consider our definition of extraterrestrial life because even though NASA predicts we may find something in the next two decades, it's likely to be in the form of minuscule organisms that aren't really capable of holding a conversation.
One man who doesn't want to wait two decades is Stephen Hawking who's teaming up with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to launch a project called Breakthrough listen, a plan which will help astronomers search ten times the amount of sky previously surveyed and with 50 times the sensitivity enabling us to detect signals from 100 closest galaxies with greater accuracy than ever before.
Read More:
3. What is human consciousness?
If you're reading this article, you're probably conscious. But what is consciousness and what happens to it when we die?
At its most basic level, consciousness is an awareness of your physical surroundings, something many living things also possess. But what we don't know is if our human level of consciousness is truly unique or if other organisms such as animals and plants are aware of their existence too.
A human consciousness has developed far beyond knowing where food lives and where to take a whiz. But could every organism potentially develop this ability? The electrical activity which occurs within the brains network of over a hundred billion nerve cells is a distinctly physical process. But the advanced consciousness creates is something much more than a series of biological survival instincts. So whilst at present, neuroscience can tell us which parts of the brain are responsible for human consciousness.
We really have no clue as to how it works.
Read More:
4. What lives at the bottom of the ocean?
It is often said that we know more about space than we do the ocean. And while this is hardly something you can accurately measure, it is true that we have a huge knowledge gap when it comes to the earth soggy bottom.
At present, 95% of the ocean remains unmapped to a high degree of resolution and it is estimated that anywhere between one and two-thirds of all marine life has yet to be identified. Of course, the easiest way to identify these creatures is to visit them but that's not easy. The deepest part of the known ocean is Challenger Deep, an area located in the Pacific in the southernmost part of the Mariana Trench. At a depth of 36,200 feet, this place has only been visited four times by humans as opposed to the six manned missions to the moon. But every time we do go, we seem to make amazing discoveries.
On a recent visit in May 2016 by the unmanned deep Discoverer, we encountered a previously unknown new jellyfish species. So what else could be lurking down there in the murky depths of the ocean?
Read More:
5. How many planets are in our solar system?
Ever since Pluto was given a dishonorable discharge for being too small and puny, you might think the answer to this is simple right? 8 or 7 if you believe the conspiracy that venus is a secret fiery Death Star waiting to annihilate us all. But in actual fact, whatever number astronomers give us is just their best guess because, despite our ability to detect galaxies light-years away, we are still unable to accurately measure the number of planets in our solar backyard.
There are two major areas of uncertainty in our solar system. The first is the area between the Sun and Mercury which is far too bright to accurately analyze without going blind. Then, beyond Uranus all the way to the Oort cloud, we have the opposite problem. It is far too dark. One way of attempting to map this area involves plotting the trajectory of asteroids. And using this data, we've noticed that there is a suspiciously planet shaped gap in the asteroid belt 50 astronomical units beyond Pluto. And also there's potentially a planet four times the size of Jupiter further beyond that.
And one more thing, a theory posted by physicist Richard Mueller claims, there might even be a second Sun. So regardless of how many objects there are in our solar system, it seems the one certainty is at some point we're going to need a brand new song to remember them all.
Read More:
6. How do bicycles work?
Unless you're a certifiable moron, you know that to make a bicycle go forward, you get on it and you pedal really hard. But in terms of actual physics involved in making a bicycle stay upright, scientific opinion seems to disagree with itself with every passing week.
At first, we thought a law of physics called the conservation of angular momentum was involved which is where your bicycles wobbling or leaning is canceled out by the steering axis which makes up your bike's handlebars in a way similar to how a gyroscope works. But in an edition of the science journal, engineers proved that gyroscopic effects were not needed to make a bicycle stay upright.
Another theory called the trail effect was also ruled out by the experiment. So at this moment in time, we can tell you with accuracy the genetic makeup of a human being but put that on a bicycle and make it deliver newspapers and we got nothing.
Read More:
7. Why do we have blood types?
Do you know your own blood type?
There are more than 20 different blood types which we believe that humans evolved around 20 million years ago. And whilst we don't know why we do know that they all have different properties.
People with type A are more susceptible to smallpox whereas those with type B are more easily affected with E Coli infections. There seems to be a definite link between your vulnerability to disease and blood type. But is there more to it than that?
Read More on Perception 9:
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