When we look at the world around us we should be amazed at how little we know about it with respect to the forces holding the whole mess together and giving it the forms and complexity we see. It seems like the more we know about our world, the more we realize how little we know.
For example, consider the following enigmas or mysteries where science is still developing to develop a more complete understanding.
My little list of imponderables.
1. Dark Energy and Dark Matter.
The theorized existence of dark energy arises from the observation by astronomers that the rate at which celestial bodies appear to be accelerating away from the earth increases with their distance from earth. When we put this in the context of universal gravity it can only be explained by positing the existence of unknown sources of energy that are somehow acting to repel these bodies away from each other.
The presumed existence of dark matter arises from the observation that outer galactical stars orbit galactic centers in ways that can only be accounted for by assuming there is a much greater mass in the galaxies than can be accounted for by the observable star mass aggregation we see.
Neither of these theorized phenomena, dark energy or dark matter, have been detected by any known device, and together they are estimated to represent about 95% of the total mass of the universe. Accordingly, this means all we see or sense in the world around us represents less than five percent of the total mass of the universe. Are there anomalies in the data that lead to this supposition due to error? If not, then there seem to be very large forces caused by huge amounts of matter and energy in the universe that we have not yet been able to detect or otherwise experience.
2. Gravitational Fields
The cartoon character Dick Tracy once said he who controls gravity controls the world. Who knows… but our understanding of the force that keeps our feet on the ground still seems to fall short. Einstein posited gravity as a result of space being warped or distorted by mass and that it travels in waves that expand and contract space and all that is in it. Scientific experiments currently under way have observed what appear to be gravitational waves using detectors spaced thousands of miles from each other in the US. But the nature of these waves and how they interact with matter still escapes complete comprehension.
3. Magnetic Fields
We commonly use magnetic fields to generate electrical energy and operate our motors and numerous electronic contraptions so important to our lifestyles. But we still do not understand what exactly constitutes these fields. We have no visual model for the nature of the particles, or their interactions they effect to make manifest the the bands of forces of repulsion and attraction in magnetic fields. We believe it all emanates from alignments of electrons or their “spins” in certain materials that have electrons free to coherently align. And we have equations (Maxwell’s for example) and models that define the effects and characteristics of magnetic fields. But we lack a visual picture or complete understanding of the nature of these forces and how they interact, are constituted, and are transmitted by their sources.
4. Energy Balances for Tropical Storm Systems
Hurricanes may travel thousands of miles over periods of weeks and accumulate enormous amounts of energy. It is frequently explained by models based on the energy emanating from the latent heat of water vapor transferred to the storm from warm ocean currents. But energy balances around a hurricane seem to fall short of explaining how the amount of energy necessary to sustain this gigantic engine and overcome huge frictional losses to the earth’s surface and surrounding atmosphere could be supplied by energy transferred only from the ocean surface.
Are there Coriolis related atmospheric sources of energy or vortex spinoffs from thermal or pressure imbalances or other phenomena we have yet to model or comprehend?
5. Organizing Forces Giving Rise to Life
We know life appears locally “aesentropic”, or that its existence seems to locally conflict with the second law of thermodynamics stating entropy is always on the march. This can be reasonably explained if we context these seeming anomalies in presumed universal local non-equilibriums and view the impacts of life on earth in a more holistic regional perspective.
But we still do not understand how a chemical soup gave rise to complex molecules and cells equipped with the organizing forces that enable living organisms to do what life forms do… like reproduce and intelligently interact with the environment. We believe we understand how organisms change or evolve over time as a result of natural selection and the resulting evolution of form and function. But we still lack a coherent understanding of how these complex organisms could have spontaneously arisen out of a chaotic organic soup.
6. The Exceptional Abilities of the Savant
We occasionally run across people who are born with part of their brain incapacitated or who have experienced such a loss due to an accident. They have, as a result, severe cognitive limitations and yet in some cases they are capable of displaying extremely exceptional and astounding mental abilities usually in a narrowly defined skill setting. These incidences have been numerously reported and run the gamut from memorizing huge sets of data or ability to perform extraordinary calculations from memory to exceptional artistic expression.
These unique abilities are far out of the range of “normalcy” and their presence is to a large extent a mystery. One question that arises is whether these exceptional abilities are generally present and lie dormant or latent in the normal brain and, if so, is it possible to access them or make them more commonly manifest in “normal” persons?
7. Thought Transmission among Life Forms
This mystery phenomenon has long intrigued me and largely comes from personal experiences. I have witnessed a number of instances when it seemed that the behavior of animals or people I had observed could only be explained by “thought transmissions” (extrasensory perception). I have no proof of this and in some cases the instances seemed to be enhanced or enabled by the use of psychedelic medications.
The experiences were so varied and vivid it is convincing at least to me that they definitely exist. But it seems possible in the context of our understanding of physics and biology that such phenomena could exist. For example, we know many animals emit radiation in the visual frequency range (bioluminescence)… thus it would seem that radiation at other frequencies other than the ones we detect with our eyes (s.a. infrared and microwave) transmitted at even lower frequencies and requiring even less energy could exist. Such could be subtly and subliminally transferred among organisms below the visible range of frequencies. To my knowledge no one has yet detected evidence of any non visible radiation (let alone patterns of radiation that could convey information) from any organism.
So just another conjecture or mystery…
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