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5 of the biggest unsolved mysteries in physics
Yahoo ^ | 1/31/12 | Tecca - Today in Tech

Posted on 01/31/2012 2:06:57 PM PST by NormsRevenge

The mysteries of the universe are as vast and wide as existence itself. Throughout history, mankind has searched and struggled to find the answers tucked away inside the universe and everything we see around us. ..

True, we have yet to come up with the answers to life, the universe, and everything — but oh do we have questions! Solving these mysteries may help to explain not only the creation of the universe, but also how it works, why it works, and possibly how it will end.

1. The Higgs boson

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical particle whose accompanying field is believed to be accountable for giving all other fundamental particles their mass. ..

...

2. Gravity and the mysterious graviton

We've all heard the story of how Newton's observation of an apple falling out of a tree led to his formulation of the law of gravitation.

...

3. Dark matter

Dark matter is a mysterious sort of glue that not only holds galaxies together but is theoretically responsible for their creation. It was initially hypothesized in 1933 to explain mathematical discrepancies while calculating the mass of galaxies; .. Since then, we haven't learned a whole heck of a lot more about dark matter.

...

4. Faster-than-light travel

Admit it — if you've ever watched Han Solo and Chewie take the Millennium Falcon to light speed, or stared in awe the first time you saw the Starship Enterprise jump to maximum warp, you've wanted to see faster-than-light (FTL) travel. ..

...

5. How will it all end?

Assuming the standard model is true, our universe's end will likely all come down to one of three theories, each of which depends upon three things: ..

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Chit/Chat; Conspiracy; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: biggest; mysteries; physics; stringtheory; unsolved
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To: martin_fierro

You know, the Native Americans used every part of the boson.


41 posted on 01/31/2012 3:05:48 PM PST by SoothingDave
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To: johnthebaptistmoore
The academic leftward inclination is directly proportional to how idiotic and useless the subject of study is.

Women's studies, cultural studies, sociology, education, communication, etc are all bastions of leftwing academics.

Physics not so much. I think many physicists would have to be reminded that there WERE such a thing as politics.

42 posted on 01/31/2012 3:11:08 PM PST by allmendream (Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)
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To: Da Coyote
The only massive part of the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle is his head (MAssive Compact Halo Objects - MACHO).

Evidence for a massive yet compact head includes its extreme density whereas the halo is thought to be an artifact generated by media interaction.

It is unfortunate that no aspect of the current WIMP could be considered MACHO.

43 posted on 01/31/2012 3:15:55 PM PST by Aevery_Freeman (Typed using <FONT STYLE=SARCASM> unless otherwise noted)
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To: brivette

But what is the question?


44 posted on 01/31/2012 3:19:12 PM PST by Aevery_Freeman (Typed using <FONT STYLE=SARCASM> unless otherwise noted)
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To: NoGrayZone
If true, they wouldn't still be looking for so many answers.

Many discoveries lead to more questions. God making the universe comprehensible is amazing.

Tell me, what is their explanation of the "big bang"......something so huge and perfect coming from nothing?

Your premise is wrong. Scientific theory says the universe was very small and imperfect in the beginning. Like many you are assuming that creation is perfect like God. Jesus turned it down for a reason when it was offered.

The link between the very small and the very large is another amazing observable fact in creation.

Heck, they STILL don't know how the human brain works.

They know a lot more about how it works than they did 10 years ago, and a heck of a lot more than when the Bible was written.

I suggest that you give up all technology not based on the Bible. You can start by turning off your computer.

45 posted on 01/31/2012 3:21:43 PM PST by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: SoothingDave
Where did Native Americans find woodwind instruments....

Sheesh

46 posted on 01/31/2012 3:22:44 PM PST by Aevery_Freeman (Typed using <FONT STYLE=SARCASM> unless otherwise noted)
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To: allmendream
I am currently reading a book on the Large Hadron Collider (Knocking On Heaven's Door) and being lectured on the reality of Global Warming by a physicist.

Sigh...

47 posted on 01/31/2012 3:26:04 PM PST by Aevery_Freeman (Typed using <FONT STYLE=SARCASM> unless otherwise noted)
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To: Moonman62
"Many discoveries lead to more questions."

And why do you think that is?

"Like many you are assuming that creation is perfect like God. Jesus turned it down for a reason when it was offered."

Adam and Eve came before Jesus.

"They know a lot more about how it works than they did 10 years ago"

Actually, they don't. They assume things, but have no idea why. Still a "mystery".

48 posted on 01/31/2012 3:27:48 PM PST by NoGrayZone (Jim "Firebrand" Robinson endorses Newt...with EPIC call to action!!)
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To: NoGrayZone

I’ll bet if your appendix were about to burst, you’d let an atheist surgeon operate on you. Or would opening the Bible be enough?


49 posted on 01/31/2012 3:42:15 PM PST by Ken H (Austerity is the irresistible force. Entitlements are the immovable object.)
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To: Ken H

What does my appendix have to do with my Bible? Is there a verse I am unaware about where He says to let it burst?

What does the vast universe have to do with my appendix as well?


50 posted on 01/31/2012 3:48:45 PM PST by NoGrayZone (Jim "Firebrand" Robinson endorses Newt...with EPIC call to action!!)
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To: Aevery_Freeman

Yikes!

Maybe he didn’t read the memo where they used a “trick” to “hide the decline”.

;)


51 posted on 01/31/2012 3:52:59 PM PST by allmendream (Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)
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To: NoGrayZone
What does my appendix have to do with my Bible?

Nothing that I'm aware of.

Is there a verse I am unaware about where He says to let it burst?

Not that I know of.

What does the vast universe have to do with my appendix as well?

It took a lot of scientific effort to get to the point where your appendicitis is readily curable. Each discovery along the way led to more questions. Good thing those physicians in times past did more than just open their Bibles, eh?

52 posted on 01/31/2012 4:09:17 PM PST by Ken H (Austerity is the irresistible force. Entitlements are the immovable object.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Five more physics questions:
1. The size of Moochele’s rear end.
2. How many Trillions we are actually in debt
3. How the Kardashians levitate their ‘careers’
4. The number of lies Mitt can tell in one ad
5. Whether Nancy Pelosi’s face is actually stretched tighter than a drum


53 posted on 01/31/2012 4:13:11 PM PST by FastCoyote (I am intolerant of the intolerable.)
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To: Strategerist; JimRed
The existence of the neutrino was hypothesized long before it was actually detected.

As was the positron. The positron is wierder than the Higgs Boson or the nuetrino. The later two were hypothesized to account for observations, the positron was hypothesized, or at least mathematically described, before it was observed, "just because".

Dirac said that he worried more that his equations were beautiful than that they were true. What is more beautiful than a theory confirmed by observation? Than the bending of light measured during an eclipse? Than the discrete nature of the electrical charged observed by Millikan? How must the heart of the first Chaldean to predict an eclipse have jumped when the daytime sky grew dark!

54 posted on 01/31/2012 4:18:20 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Ceterum autem censeo, Obama delenda est.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Wonder why the double slit experiment didn’t make the list...


55 posted on 01/31/2012 4:31:56 PM PST by spankalib (The Marx-in-the-Parks crowd is a basement skunkworks operation of the AFL-CIO)
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To: NoGrayZone
"Many discoveries lead to more questions."

And why do you think that is?

Because they are in the process of discovery. They allow more questions and seek answers, unlike people who choose ignorance.

Adam and Eve came before Jesus.

Evidence please, and how is that relevant?

"They know a lot more about how the brain works than they did 10 years ago"

Actually, they don't. They assume things, but have no idea why. Still a "mystery".

You're confusing "how the brain works" with consciousness and sensory qualia.

Now go turn off your computer, and wait for the sun to come up so you can read your Bible.

56 posted on 01/31/2012 4:35:53 PM PST by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: AdmSmith; bvw; callisto; ckilmer; dandelion; ganeshpuri89; gobucks; KevinDavis; Las Vegas Dave; ...

Thanks martin_fierro.


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57 posted on 01/31/2012 6:24:45 PM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: betty boop

42. It’s the answer to life, the universe, and everything!

Once you figure out the question, it will all make sense.

42.

RIP Douglas Adams. And thanks for all the fish...


58 posted on 01/31/2012 9:45:51 PM PST by Don W (You can forget what you do for a living when your knees are in the breeze.)
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To: Don W
RIP Douglas Adams. And thanks for all the fish...

And the ultimate question, the question of life, the universe, and everything was, as revealed by the caveman pulling Scrabble tiles, "What do you get when you multiply 6 by 9?"
59 posted on 01/31/2012 9:50:52 PM PST by aruanan
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To: NormsRevenge
Admit it — if you've ever watched Han Solo and Chewie take the Millennium Falcon to light speed, or stared in awe the first time you saw the Starship Enterprise jump to maximum warp, you've wanted to see faster-than-light (FTL) travel. ..

That's nothing next to Ludicrous Speed.

60 posted on 02/02/2012 10:59:16 PM PST by irishtenor (Everything in moderation, however, too much whiskey is just enough... Mark Twain)
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