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Over the past 50 years, scientific progress has taken a big step forward. People finally carry out flights into space, are able to treat diseases that were considered fatal, develop artificial intelligence and so on. But the more scientists make scientific discoveries, the more questions they have. For example, especially many questions arose after the discovery of the force of gravity. We know perfectly well that lunar gravity causes ebbs and flows, terrestrial gravity prevents us from flying into space, and solar gravity prevents planet Earth itself from flying into space.
But are there any particles of gravity, why is the force holding atoms together different from the force of gravity, and does it really exist at all? Scientists, at least at the current stage of development of science, cannot answer these questions. What other unsolved mysteries are there?
What is dark matter
The term ” dark matter ” was first used in 1906 by the French scientist Henri Poincaré. In astronomy and theoretical physics, this is the name of the form of matter, which makes up to 80% of the entire mass of the Universe. It does not emit any light, does not participate in electromagnetic interaction and cannot be fixed by the instruments available to researchers. It exists only in theory, and scientists have not yet been able to find a single proof of its existence.
Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in the universe.
At the moment, the most common version says that dark matter consists of hypothetical WIMP particles (WIMP, Weakly Interacting Massive Particle). They can be 100 times heavier than protons, but they do not interact with any of the devices that exist today. Someday, scientists are sure to uncover the secrets of dark matter, but today in this area – solid darkness.
What is dark energy
While dark matter makes up 80% of the universe’s mass, hypothetical dark energy makes up 70% of the universe’s content. At the moment, scientists believe that it is the existence of dark energy that can explain the expansion of the universe. However, due to the inability to fix the presence of such energy, scientists know almost nothing about it – this is one of the most important mysteries of the cosmos. Researchers don’t know what dark energy is made of, how permanent it is, and so on.
Dark energy is another big mystery for scientists
How life appeared on Earth
Paleontologists regularly find the remains of animals that lived on our planet millions of years ago or even more. It is known that initially life existed only in water, and then moved to land. But where did it come from, how did the first bacteria and other microorganisms appear? The “primordial soup” theory says that the fertile surface of our planet itself formed complex molecules, from which living creatures subsequently grew. Other scientists tend to suggest that life was brought to Earth by meteorite impacts. Let’s say it’s true. But the question remains – how did life appear in the places from which the first microbes on Earth came?
Perhaps life on Earth has a cosmic origin
How birds and other animals migrate
Today, we already know perfectly well that before the onset of winter, some animals migrate to warmer climes. They do this to live in more comfortable conditions, so as not to be left without food and partners, as well as for other reasons – it all depends on the type of animal. But for thousands of years, people were completely unaware of this phenomenon.
The migration of birds became known only in 1822, when a white stork with an arrow in its neck was found in the German village of Klütz. It turned out that it was made in Central Africa – this is how scientists learned that birds sometimes fly to the warm corners of our planet.
Stuffed stork with an African arrow
But how birds and other animals migrate thousands of miles without getting lost, scientists don’t know. Some of them clearly somehow feel the Earth’s magnetic field and this helps them navigate. But where did they get this miraculous ability? The answer is no, but research is underway.
Why do people need sleep
A huge part of a person’s life is spent in a dream. For example, if a man or woman lived for 70 years, this means that they rested for 22 years. Sleep is very important for human health because it helps repair tissues, sort through the information accumulated during the day, and generally maintain a healthy body. And if a person experiences a lack of sleep, he begins to suffer from many problems – we regularly write about them.
Some animals can do without sleep, but why can’t humans do without it?
But there are living beings in the world who do without sleep. For example, scientists once followed the life of a bullfrog ( Lithobates catesbeianus ) and did not notice a single period of rest. It has also been observed that at an early stage of development, dolphins can also go without sleep for months at a time. So why can’t a person go without sleep for even a few days?
Some researchers believe that most living beings can afford to sleep, because they have learned to hide well from predators and other dangers – a person just belongs to such creatures. But there is no evidence for this hypothesis.
Sometimes inexplicable things are discovered in the course of archaeological research. You can read about the most intriguing secrets of archeology in this article.
