Big Questions Wiki
hideHow did life begin? What's the universe made of? Why do we sleep? 42 of the biggest questions in science.
Big Science Questions
With Natalie Angier, Gregg Easterbrook, James Gleick, Brian Greene, Kevin Kelly, Richard Preston, Richard Rhodes & more
What’s at Earth's core?
Is time an illusion?
How does a fertilized egg become a human?
Why do we sleep?
What happened to the Neanderthals?
Where did life come from?
How can observation affect the outcome of an experiment?
How do entangled particles communicate?
Why do placebos work?
What is the universe made of?
What is the purpose of noncoding DNA?
Will forests slow global warming - or speed it up?
What happens to information in a black hole?
What causes ice ages?
How does the brain calculate movement?
Why do the poles reverse?
How does the brain produce consciousness?
Why is fundamental physics so messy?
How doth human language evolve?
Why can’t we predict the weather?
Why don’t we understand turbulence?
Is the universe actually made of information?
Why do some diseases turn into pandemics?
Can mathematicians prove the Riemann hypothesis?
Why do we die when we do?
What causes gravity?
Why can’t we regrow body parts?
Why do we still have big questions?
John Hodgman solves six mysteries of the universe
Which counts more: nature or nurture?
What is the Large Hadron Collider?
Is time travel possible?
If there is life on other planets, why haven’t they contacted us?
Do nonhuman animals have culture?
Which is more important: nature or nurture?
Wired editors offer smart answers to silly questions.
How much is all the tea in China actually worth?
Where are my keys?
Why do hot dogs come in packs of 10 while buns come in packs of 8 or 12?
What is belly button lint?
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?
Return to Big Questions: http://www.wired.com/42
Big Religion/Philosophy Questions
Was there a historical Jesus? and Is he the child of the FlyingSpaghettiMonster?
Where is the holy grail?
Why do fools fall in love?
Why is Filipino spelled with an "F" but Philipines is spelled with a "Ph?"
Why does it hurt when I pee?
Why is the speed of light a constant but time is not?
contributed by Guest User on Jan 24 10:40am
My big questions:
Where is God?
Can and Will Humankind ever achieve Faster-than-Light travel?
Can and will Humankind ever get its act together?
contributed by Guest User on Jan 24 6:56pm
Which is more important, happiness or safety?
How do we know that our sleep isn't reality and our awaken state isn't a dream?
contributed by Guest User on Jan 25 11:28am
Why do we not know why we do what we do?
What really matters?
contributed by Karl Laphong on Jan 26 5:15pm
Why is the pace of technological innovation increasing?
Why, with all the infinite variety in human beings, is there a common aesthetic? Why is it that certain pieces of music, certain works of art, certain books, speak to the core of a majority of us, such that these works become "hits"?
What do you do when you're not doing what you do?
contributed by Mary Warner on Jan 28 12:22pm
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How do homing pigeons find their way home?
contributed by Crelm on Jan 28 1:54pm
Why haven't human beings speciated (why haven't some human groups become unable to breed with other human groups), when so many species with broad population distributions have?
Why do leaders of states keep choosing to migrate their states to empires when empires inevitably end in disasterous collapse (the empire paradox)?
Why do cities develop spatially the way they do (lots of inadequate hypotheses so far)?
Why does science keep modelling the universe based on the latest paradigmatic invention science generates (i.e., the universe was a giant clock; next the universe was a giant machine; now the universe is a giant computer), when this never proves to be an accurate explanation of the universe (the paradox of the false metaphor)?
Why can't energy be destroyed?
Why do human beings torture human beings for information when torture produces unreliable information? (the paradox of false information acquisition)
Why do humans continue to express unexplained problems in paradoxes that eventually turn out not to be paradoxes at all; e.g., the Einstein Podolsky Rosen Paradox? (the paradox of false absurdities)
Can this question not be answered?
contributed by dcwilson3 on Jan 30 10:13am
Why does time seem to go faster and faster as we age?
contributed by wilsondp on Jan 31 6:22pm
Why do mountains lift our spirit,
and rushing streams thrill the heart?
And why do autumn leaves turn brilliant
instead of drab and gray?
And why do sopranos and songbirds sing sweet
and not squeal or croak?
And why do we welcome strangers
and see beauty in foreign faces?
Why is there something instead of nothing?
And what exactly is nothing?
contributed by Warren Aney on Feb 3 7:09pm
Is the universe continuous or discrete?
Is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?
contributed by Thomas Francl on Feb 5 10:30am
Why do some species become cannibalistic?
If the universe is infinite, how can it expand? What is it expanding into?
contributed by Mitchell Goldstein on Feb 16 4:30pm
Questions:
1. Why is there no balance of matter and antimatter in our visible universe?
2. How is lightning formed?
3. What causes a woman to dilate during child birth?
How many bricks in the yellow brick road? =)
_contributed by Brian on Feb 22 1:48pm_
Questions;
1. Can one's EGO be described in physical terms? and you can't use size descriptors.
2. How is it that some EGO's are so self-inflicted that they have come to rule out GOD as part of our existance and then declare that man will become smart enough to answer the mysteries which GOD said were beyond man's ability to imagine or comprehend?
Thanks for the sublety on Doug Adam's book. I prefer to ponder the the meaning to the second part of the story as to what is the answer to life, the universe and everything (we know it was 42 ha). But once back a milenium later to get the answer the computer was asked to reveal THE QUESTION.
The response 'Well, that will take a little longer'. HMMMM
contributed by Doug Rood on Feb 25 11:23am
Questions:
Why can't we get cold fusion to work, and harness it's power?
Why can't we come up with a better way to prduce electricity? Something other than using steam or water to turn a generator?
contributed by Mitchell Prince<BR>
Considering that time is not constant and it's velocity may vary. How would one measure it's velocity. Specifically how would one determine the actual velocity of time within a far away system as opposed to the velocity of time as it would look to an outside observer.
contributed by gummih on Feb 28 7:03am
1) Why is there something, and lots of it, instead of nothing? “Formless and void” makes perfect sense to me. Empty is logical. Nil ex nihilo. A billion galaxies?? Somebody’s got a lot of explaining to do.
2) Why is everything so darn complicated? Probably a thousand times more complicated than the smartest people believed a century ago. At this rate we are in for some serious, long-term bewilderment. Here's the bigger question: Could those simpler conceptions actually work, or is there something inherent in nature that demands layers on layers, dimensions on dimensions, enigmas wrapped in puzzles inside of mysteries?
John Hodgman seems like a smart guy. But let me assure you that “The End of Science” is an oxymoron. First-rate minds appreciate how endlessly complex everything is, and how little we understand. Einstein said it best: we’ll figure out a lot but what we know will “always be child’s play.” Exactly.
PS I have a third question about ghosts, UFO's, etc but it needs a little editing. All of these comments are from an essay I was already working on for Improve-Education.org.
contributed by Bruce Deitrick Price on Mar 2 11:22am
So, here's Big Question 3: what about UFO'S, ghosts and all the other common mysteries??
A smart friend in Manhattan is fascinated by UFO’s. He’s always lecturing me: “Think about it, Bruce. If even ONE of these stories is true, it changes EVERYTHING!!”
I’m not so sure. I suspect I’ll still have to get up and go to work. I suspect the UFOs could be there by the thousands without changing my life at all. Or our scientific theories.
For some hugely radical impact on “everything,” consider:
If even one story about psychic communication or crime solving is true, it changes everything.
If even one story about a miracle is true, it changes everything.
If even one story about a visitation by an angel or diety is true, it changes everything.
If even one story about an out-of-body experience is true, it changes everything.
But perhap my favorite is this: if even one ghost story is true, it changes everything. Definitely. What is a ghost but a soul? Where is it but in an afterlife? Omigod.
(Ghosts interest me because the stories, across centuries and cultures, tend to be similar. They never speak. They just hang around, sort of annoyed.)
Here's the interesting thing about our culture now: high-level scientists can talk airy blather about unseen dimensions, etc., but let one of them reflect upon ghosts, etc., the career is probably finished. Physicists have become our theologians. They can say ANYTHING.
Funny PS: I called the friend in New York to read him the comments I’m about to send to Wired. Note, he’s a stock broker, very practical, and hostile to religious views. He said: “Oh, this is weird. My uncle died five years ago and guess what? Six months later, my aunt sees his ghost. She wouldn’t make it up. I know her!” He sounded more open to odd new views.
contributed by Bruce Deitrick Price on Mar 2 11:52am
Is it better to be smart or be happy?
Where does grey hair come from?
contributed by Kathleen McKenzie on Mar 8 5:14pm
What will the living conditions be like in the future?
This is affected by what is considered beneficial, so the following thought which can be applied to all size classes, might be the biggest question ever - in practise!
A healthy whole works better than a broken whole. To this one might add the knowledge that really healthy is also happy.... :) www.paradisewins.net
contributed by Hannele Tervola on Sep 17 10:00am
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