Description
The core book published in 2008 lists a number of science based questions which at the time, or even now, do not have a satisfying answer. Since the publication of the book, some of the problems (questions) have been "solved", but some of the answers seem unsatisfactory to a number of scientists. The core book describes the thirteen different topics that intrigued the Author. However, in some cases the amount of research in these areas have exploded, while some new ones, almost as intriguing have arisen and will be given more emphasis. In order to make this SD/G more relevant some additional topics have been added and some deleted. Some topics are based on hard science, but others are more philosophical. For example: Does AI have Free Will or What is Life, biologically speaking? This is one of those SD/Gs that will end with more questions than answers because we just don't know.
This SD/G designed for those not only with a science background, and is based on what you can find in the newspapers (what are those?), cinema, TV or in simple computer searches.
Weekly Topics
1. The Missing Universe or How to Account for the Entire Mass of the Universe and is Dark Matter an integral part of this? Can the Standard Model explain this?
2. What is Time? When did Time Start? Do we understand Time?
3. Matter-antimatter asymmetry problem. Why is there more matter than anti-matter in the Universe? Has that question really been answered?
4. Quantum Weirdness - a proven fact or reality? Schrodinger's Cat in the Box thought problem.
5. String Theory, Many Worlds and Dimensions - Fact or Fiction?
6. Do Black Holes Exist? Facts and theory? How does Hawkins recent proposal fit the theory?
7. Cold Fusion - Was a scientific hoax committed or poor experimental design? If hoax, why is research still ongoing? Is it similar to Polywater?
8. Viking - NASA scientists found evidence of life on Mars, then changed their minds. What are the possibilities of life outside our Solar System?
9. Has ET already been in touch? Is the Wow Signal real or an artifact?
10. Life or are you more than just a container for chemicals? How to define life, e.g. a virus?
11. Sexual reproduction: Is it an advantage over asexual reproduction? What can go wrong or right? What would the world look like if there was only asexual reproduction?
12. What is natural Death? Is self-destruction an advantage for evolution? Never mind Malthus!
13. What is Free Will in a living being. Is it real? Do the recent advances in brain chemistry and testing shed light on the issue?
14. The Placebo Effect and Homeopathy. How do they work and are they connected to free will?
Bibliography
Core Book: 13 things that Don't make Sense, Michael Brooks, Doubleday, New York, 2005. Available on Amazon for about $5 used.
The 18 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries in Physics:
https://www.livescience.com/34052-unsolved-mysteries-physics.html
1. A Short History of the Missing Universe:
https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-short-history-of-the-missing-universe-20180919/
At Last, Physicists Understand Where Matter's Mass Comes From: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/11/07/at-last-physicists-understand-where-matters-mass-comes-from/#4db248245bf9
Bizarre 'Dark Fluid' With Negative Mass Could Dominate The Universe: https://phys.org/news/2018-12-bizarre-dark-fluid-negative-mass.html
Dark Energy, Dark Matter: https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy
Mapping Dark Matter: https://www.space.com/42820-mapping-dark-matter-hubble-space-telescope.html
Our Universe Has Antimatter Partner On The Other Side Of The Big Bang, Say Physicists: https://physicsworld.com/a/our-universe-has-antimatter-partner-on-the-other-side-of-the-big-bang-say-physicists/
Scientists Find the 'Missing' Dark Matter from the Early Universe: https://www.livescience.com/64389-dark-matter-around-galaxies-constant.html
2. What is Time? When Did Time Start?
Did anything exist 10 Billion years before that Big Bang happened?: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/WhctKJVJZlJfnDlXPHDNVZwKLWvmGBLbQDqtvCpmcRsrHJzcsxsSSsxrnXsBGzcLVrbrsSq
The Beginning of Time: http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of-time.html
The Galaxy That Challenged Dark Matter (And Failed): https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/12/27/the-galaxy-that-challenged-dark-matter-and-failed/#4eae3ed5613c
Quantum Fields: The Real Building Blocks of the Universe - with David Tong: https://youtu.be/zNVQfWC_evg
Dark Energy May Be Incompatible With String Theory: https://www.quantamagazine.org/dark-energy-may-be-incompatible-with-string-theory-20180809/
Dark Matter and Particle Physics: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-12493.pdf
Ancient Dark-Matter Storm –“Heading Towards Our Sun” (A 2018 Most Viewed): https://dailygalaxy.com/2018/12/ancient-dark-matter-storm-heading-directly-towards-our-sun-a-2018-most-viewed/
The Myth Of The Beginning Of Time: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-myth-of-the-beginning-of-time-2006-02/
42 sec. explanation of time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JusBwjDigbs
Pre-bang physics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre%E2%80%93Big_Bang_physics
What Existed Before the Big Bang?: https://science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/astronomy-terms/before-big-bang.htm
This New Study Suggests That Time Existed Before The Big Bang: https://www.ktvb.com/video/tech/science/amaze-lab/this-new-study-suggests-that-time-existed-before-the-big-bang/609-8d6b2971-6f24-49ad-98ec-d3273cda71a8
Mind-Bending Study Suggests Time Did Actually Exist Before The Big Bang: https://www.sciencealert.com/mind-bending-study-suggests-time-did-actually-exist-before-the-big-bang
3. Matter Versus Antimatter
The Matter of Antimatter: Answering the Cosmic Riddle Of Existence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMMgsjnI1is
The Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem: https://home.cern/science/physics/matter-antimatter-asymmetry-problem
Neutrinos Hint of Matter-Antimatter Rift: https://www.quantamagazine.org/do-neutrinos-explain-matter-antimatter-asymmetry-20160728/
http://www-public.slac.stanford.edu/babar/antimatter.aspx
Why is there more matter than antimatter?: http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=121
Case weakens for antimatter sign of dark matter: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/case-weakens-antimatter-sign-dark-matter
4. Quantum Weirdness
Experiment Reaffirms Quantum Weirdness: https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-are-closing-the-bell-test-loophole-20170207/
Famous Experiment Dooms Alternative to Quantum Weirdness: https://www.quantamagazine.org/famous-experiment-dooms-pilot-wave-alternative-to-quantum-weirdness-20181011/
Quantum Weirdness Now a Matter of Time: https://www.quantamagazine.org/time-entanglement-raises-quantum-mysteries-20160119/
Our universe may be sitting on a bubble within an extra dimension: https://www.techexplorist.com/universe-sitting-bubble-within-an-extra-dimension/19806/
Quantum Weirdness May Seem to Outrun Light — Here's Why It Can't: https://www.space.com/41968-quantum-entanglement-faster-than-light.html
The Universe Is Always Looking: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/beyond-weird-decoherence-quantum-weirdness-schrodingers-cat/573448/
Five Weird Quantum Effects: https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/five-weird-quantum-effects
5. String Theory, Many Worlds and Dimensions
String Theory May Create Far Fewer Universes Than Thought: https://www.livescience.com/63204-string-theory-multiverse.html
The theory of parallel universes is not just maths – it is science that can be tested: https://phys.org/news/2015-09-theory-parallel-universes-maths-science.html
The Multiverse and String Theory - Michio Kaku: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omIc_VLNHfo
The Many Worlds of the Quantum Multiverse | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKWfw68M5U&vl=en
What is the relation between String Theory and Multiverse?: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-relation-between-String-Theory-and-Multiverse
Taming The Multiverse—Stephen Hawking's Final Theory About The Big Bang: https://phys.org/news/2018-05-multiversestephen-hawking-theory-big.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiA37HhBRC8ARIsAPWoO0y51dGXpj7D035MPGnCqvwvVKOMMh2u5HQkyhjrsaT8Wjitu8z-mnkaAk-VEALw_wcB
Deriving General Relativity From String Theory: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/11116/1/Huggett-Vistarini.pdf
String Theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
6. Black Holes
On the Existence of Black Holes: https://www.space.com/38091-the-existence-of-black-holes.html
No Black Holes Exist, Says Stephen Hawking—At Least Not Like We Think: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140127-black-hole-stephen-hawking-firewall-space-astronomy/
How Stephen Hawking Transformed Our Understanding of Black Holes: https://www.space.com/39988-black-hole-mysteries-stephen-hawking.html
Why Stephen Hawking’s Black Hole Puzzle Keeps Puzzling: https://www.quantamagazine.org/stephen-hawkings-black-hole-paradox-keeps-physicists-puzzled-20180314/
The Milky Way’s Center Is a Cornucopia of Black Holes: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/black-holes-milky-way-galaxy/557333/
Black Holes, Explained: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/black-holes/
Black Hole: http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/B/Black+Hole
7. Cold Fusion
Cold Fusion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
'Hey Bill Nye, Is Cold Fusion Possible?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xyb2lPcyT0
Cold Fusion: How It Works?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6d2q-YxVvk
Is Cold Fusion Feasible? Or Is It A Fraud?: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/09/23/is-cold-fusion-feasible-or-is-it-a-fraud/#11ab35907a05
What Is The Current Scientific Thinking On Cold Fusion? Is There Any Possible Validity To This Phenomenon?: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-current-scien/
The Curious Case of Polywater: https://slate.com/technology/2013/11/polywater-history-and-science-mistakes-the-u-s-and-ussr-raced-to-create-a-new-form-of-water.html
Polywater And The Role Of Skepticism: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/ATG/polywater.html
Polywater, the Soviet Scientific Secret That Made the World Gulp: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/polywater-the-soviet-scientific-secret-that-made-the-world-gulp
8. Life on Mars and Our Universe
Did 40-year-old Viking experiment discover life on Mars?: https://phys.org/news/2016-10-year-old-viking-life-mars.html
Life on Mars Found by NASA's Viking Mission?: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120413-nasa-viking-program-mars-life-space-science/
Life on Mars, from Viking to Curiosity: http://nautil.us/issue/57/communities/life-on-mars-from-viking-to-curiosity
40 years since Viking, scientists still on the hunt for life on Mars: https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/07/25/40-years-since-viking-scientists-still-on-the-hunt-for-life-on-mars/
What Is the Statistical Probability Of Life On Other Planets?: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/06/19/what-is-the-statistical-probability-of-life-on-other-planets/#288b22fe6fdf
Drake Equation: Estimating the Odds of Finding E.T.: https://www.space.com/25219-drake-equation.html
Looking For Life In All The Right Places: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/the-search-for-life/life-signs/
The Search for Life in the Universe: https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/search_life_I.html
9. Was ET Here and Called Home?
The Search for Life in the Universe: https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/search_life_I.html
Wow! Signal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal
The Alien Wow Signal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkycNvrpjCs
What Was The Wow Signal? The Most Interesting Signal SETI Has Ever Seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDT8xDtliS8
Comet Likely Didn't Cause Bizarre 'Wow!' Signal (But Aliens Might Have): https://www.livescience.com/59442-astronomers-skeptical-about-wow-signal.html
Was the Wow! Signal Alien?: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4342
SETI: https://www.seti.org/
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_for_extraterrestrial_intelligence
10. Life or a Bag of Chemicals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life
Life's Working Definition: Does It Work?: https://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/life's_working_definition.html
What Defines a Stem Cell? Scientists Rethink the Answer: https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-defines-a-stem-cell-scientists-rethink-the-answer-20181204/
This May Be Life's 'Missing Ingredient': https://www.livescience.com/64355-missing-ingredient-in-origin-of-life.html
Fossil Discoveries Challenge Ideas About Earth’s Start: https://www.quantamagazine.org/fossil-discoveries-challenge-ideas-about-earths-start-20180122/
Quantum Physicists in The 1920s Helped Found Field Of Quantum Biology: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/01/quantum-physicists-in-the-1920s-helped-found-field-of-quantum-biology/
GENOME THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A SPECIES IN 23 CHAPTERS, MATT RIDLEY
Ridley, Matt. Genome . Harper Perennial. Kindle Edition.
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, Adam Rutherford, The Experiment, NY 2017
What Is Life?: https://philosophynow.org/issues/101/What_Is_Life:
What is Life?: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-biology-foundations/hs-biology-and-the-scientific-method/a/what-is-life
There are Over 100 Definitions for “life” and All Are Wrong: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170101-there-are-over-100-definitions-for-life-and-all-are-wrong
Are Viruses Alive?: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-viruses-alive-2004/
11. Sexual Reproduction
Asexual vs. Sexual Reproduction: https://www.diffen.com/difference/Asexual_Reproduction_vs_Sexual_Reproduction
22 Advantages And Disadvantages Of Asexual Reproduction: https://vittana.org/22-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-asexual-reproduction
Advantages of Asexual Reproduction: https://biologywise.com/advantages-of-asexual-reproduction
Advantages and Disadvantages of Asexual and Sexual Reproduction: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-a-sexual-or-an-asexual-life-cycle_fig2_51607862
7 Advantages and Disadvantages of Asexual Reproduction: https://thenextgalaxy.com/7-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-asexual-reproduction/
Advantages and Disadvantages of Sexual: eproduction: https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_General_Biology_(Boundless)/11%3A_Meiosis_and_Sexual_Reproduction/11.2%3A_Sexual_Reproduction/11.2A%3A_Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Sexual_Reproduction
Biological Advantages of Sexual Reproduction: https://study.com/academy/lesson/biological-advantages-of-sexual-reproduction.html
12. What Is Natural Death?
What Is the Evolutionary Advantage Of Death?: https://io9.gizmodo.com/what-is-the-evolutionary-advantage-of-death-743044300
Biology of Death: https://evmedreview.com/biology-of-death-2/
Biologically Speaking, This Is Why Humans Are Born To Die: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/07/13/biologically-speaking-this-is-why-humans-are-born-to-die/#3e5fb7b74a48
Evolution by Means of Death: https://evolutionnews.org/2012/11/evolution_by_me/
Adaptive evolution without natural selection: https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/112/2/287/2415796
Why Life Needs Death: https://bigthink.com/videos/why-life-needs-death
13. Free Will
Free Will Exists and Is Measurable: https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/06/free-will-exists-and-is-measurable/486551/
There’s No Such Thing as Free Will: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/theres-no-such-thing-as-free-will/480750/
Five Arguments For Free Will: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/one-among-many/201803/five-arguments-free-will
Can A.I. Ever Have Free Will?: https://becominghuman.ai/can-a-i-ever-have-free-will-c18b4f489b45
Sam Harris on Free Will, Spirituality, and Artificial Intelligence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfpq_CIFDjg
Free Will versus the Programmed Brain: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/free-will-vs-programmed-brain/
We Just Found The Part Of The Brain Responsible For Free Will: https://www.iflscience.com/brain/we-just-found-the-part-of-the-brain-responsible-for-free-will/
14. Homeopathy
Homeopathy: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/reference/homeopathy/
The Debate About Homeopathy Is Over. These Verdicts Prove It: https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-debate-about-homeopathy-is-over-these-verdicts-prove-it/
Harvard Study Has Good News for Homeopathic Medicine: https://www.integrativepractitioner.com/topics/news/harvard-study-has-good-news-for-homeopathic-medicine
Why I Changed My Mind About Homeopathy: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/apr/03/homeopathy-why-i-changed-my-mind
1,800 Studies Later, Scientists Conclude Homeopathy Doesn’t Work: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1800-studies-later-scientists-conclude-homeopathy-doesnt-work-180954534/
Why Do We Still Believe in Homeopathy?: http://www.publicseminar.org/2018/01/why-do-we-still-believe-in-homeopathy/
Why Do We Believe In Homeopathy? Ten Tricks The Brain Plays On Us: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11012900/Why-do-we-believe-in-homeopathy-Ten-tricks-the-brain-plays-on-us.html
Confronting Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, And Other Quackademic Medicine At My Alma Mater: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/confronting-homeopathy-naturopathy-homeopathy-and-other-quackademic-medicine-at-my-alma-mater/
Placebos as Medicine: The Ethics of Homeopathy: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/placebos-as-medicine-the-ethics-of-homeopathy/
Are The Clinical Effects Of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? Comparative Study Of Placebo-Controlled Trials Of Homoeopathy And Allopathy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16125589
