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10/1/2015 10 Easy Questions We Still Don't Know The Answer To Listverse
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HIMANSHU SHARMA JUNE 30, 2014
We know that science doesn’t have the answers to everything, but seeing that it’s 2014 and
the future is almost here, there are some questions we really expected it to have answered
by now.
10How Does Turbulence Work?
Everyone has gone through a flight where the pilot asks you to tighten your seat belts
because of excessive turbulence, but even though it is so important to things like air safety,
we just have no idea how it works. It has perplexed scientists to such an extent that
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10 Easy Questions We Still Don’t KnowThe Answer To
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Einstein once famously said, “Before I die, I hope someone will clarify quantum physics for
me. After I die, I hope God will explain turbulence to me.”
The problem is aggravated by the fact that wherever the need to study turbulence arises—
like in jet propulsion—chemical reactions take place alongside the high pressure and
extreme conditions, which makes it difficult for researchers to study the exact conditions
needed to produce turbulence. If somehow we could figure it out, it could be applied to a
variety of uses since turbulence occurs everywhere in nature. Maybe one day we’d even be
able to predict hurricanes or other natural disasters with accuracy, thus minimizing the
damage and finally scoring one over nature.
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9Why Do Cats Purr?
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We’ve shown before that cats don’t always purr when they’re happy, but the mystery
goes way deeper than that. There is no purring organ in the throat of a cat, and even
though extensive research has been done on the function itself, the exact origin of the
function in the anatomy of cats is still unknown.
It’s theorized that they might do it by the constriction and dilation of the larynx, but no
evidence has ever been provided to prove or disprove that theory. It was, however, found
that the frequency of a cat’s purr falls somewhere in the range required to accelerate
bone regeneration and healing, so it might just be a healing superpower that we had no
idea even existed in the animal kingdom. That might also explain why we take it to be a
happy sound, as the frequency is not just beneficial for the cat—it tends to make us
happier as well.
8What Causes Hypnic Jerks?
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Often when we are about to fall asleep, we experience a kind of a falling sensation which
causes us to wake up with a start. It happens to almost everybody, and the sensation is
known as a hypnic jerk. It also sometimes happens when you tilt the chair you’re sitting on
too far—somehow you can sense when you’re about to fall, and you wake up with a hypnic
jerk. We really have no idea what causes them or whether they serve any modern
purpose, but science has come up with some interesting theories.
One hypothesis suggests that our bodies developed this mechanism when we used to
sleep on branches or high ground, and it was meant to help us avoid a fall. But there is no
evidence to support it, and humans rarely slept on trees or precarious cliffs as a matter of
habit. Other theories suggest that it happens because of the slowing down of the body’s
processes when you fall asleep, but again, there are no scientific studies to support that
claim either.
7How Exactly Do Magnets Work?
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Magnetism is a widely observed phenomenon in our universe, but a lot of things about it
remain unexplained. For example, why do particles charged with electricity create a
magnetic field strong enough to physically move things from far away? And when they do,
why exactly do they align themselves to two poles, north and south?
Explanations range from “it’s just one of those things” to particle movement at the
quantum level, and MIT even has a whole laboratory dedicated to research on nothing but
magnetism. We know that it’s happening, and we have a good idea of what exactly is
happening, too—the particles align themselves in a way that adds up their charge in one
direction, but it’s not very clear as to why the particles emit a magnetic field to start with.
The fact that the Earth’s magnetic field is not well understood either further restricts our
ability to understand magnetism.
6Why Do Giraffes Have Long Necks?
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Many may believe that only giraffes with long necks survived evolution because they had
an advantage over the other, short-necked ones, but that’s not really true. Longer necks
provide no particular advantage to giraffes because they care more about the type of leaf
than the height at which it’s situated. If it’s confusing to you, science doesn’t have much of
a clue either. There’s just no consensus on the exact conditions that would have caused
long necks to be selected positively among giraffes.
One theory is that the giraffes developed long necks as a mating trait—in other words, it
helped with the ladies—but there’s not much evidence to support that hypothesis. On
the contrary, big, heavy necks, no matter how good they look, would be a definite
disadvantage in the wild and are sure to die out at some point in the future. Another theory
says that they had to develop long necks because of long legs, but again, that theory is
based less on factual evidence and more on a scientist looking at a giraffe and guessing.
5Why Do Birds Migrate?
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We know that birds migrate over really long distances every year to lay eggs or to escape
harsh winters. What we don’t know is how they do it at all. The migration of birds remains
one of the most mysterious animal behaviors known to science, and even though they’ve
been trying hard to solve it for a long time, answers haven’t been easy to come by.
Consider this: Cuckoos migrate and lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, then just fly away to
their own business. When the young ones grow up, they make their way to their
ancestral lands without any help whatsoever. Scientists do believe that they are able to
use a variety of compasses based on the stars and the Earth’s magnetic field, but a
compass can only guide you—it can’t tell you the coordinates of a location you should have
no idea about. Clearly, cuckoos are one species you don’t want to mess with.
4What Causes Gravity?
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Newton pioneered the study of gravity over 350 years ago, and you’d think that we’d have it
all figured out by now. But the more we’ve progressed in our knowledge of the world, the
more baffling gravity has become for researchers. For starters, we know the causing
particle for each of the four fundamental forces of the universe—except gravity. A graviton
is believed to be that particle, but we’re pretty far from actually finding it.
Another thing about gravity is that it is the weakest of all the other fundamental forces, yet
if we look around the world, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Gravity keeps galaxies
together, and it is about 10 times weaker than the electromagnetic force. The fact that
it’s so weak makes it all the more difficult to study it in the lab.
3How Do We Store And Retrieve Memories?
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Science has come a long way toward understanding how our bodies work, but memories
are still one of the most perplexing problems of the human anatomy. We just have no idea
exactly what parts of the brain are involved in the storage of our memories, though we do
know that a lot of areas of the brain are involved in the process. Even more confusing than
memory storage is memory retrieval. Scientists have been looking into how our brains
trace a particular memory from our memory bank since at least the ’20s, but it’s still not
clear how we do it.
What we do know for sure is that it has something to do with neurons and the connections
between them. When we see something that triggers a memory to be traced, many parts
of the brain interact with each other simultaneously to make us remember it. Beyond that,
though, the whole thing is a mystery.
2Why Do Women Go Through Menopause?
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Menopause defies all the rules of evolution. The ability to reproduce in the animal kingdom
ensures that the species are able to pass on their superior genes, but in humans,
something weird happens. Women decisively lose their ability to pass on their lineage at
the age of about 45–50, and science just doesn’t have any idea why. From an evolutionary
perspective, it is always harmful for a species to completely give up their ability to
reproduce, as survival by natural selection ceases to take place once that happens.
One explanation is the grandmother hypothesis, which says that after a point, women
should spend more time caring for their grandchildren than their children, but the benefits
of that are far inferior to the benefits of giving birth to your own children. It’s also not
abundantly found in the animal kingdom. Apart from humans, only two species of whale
completely stop breeding at a certain age and go on to live for a significant amount of time.
Other animals that experience deteriorating sexual abilities, however, often die out soon
after.
1What Are Dreams?
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Dreaming is one thing that’s common to us all. It might differ in the way it happens for
some of us, but it’s definitely a resident feature of all of our brains. You’d think that science
would be able to figure out why our brains decide to go in LSD mode every night, but sadly,
there are no definite answers as to what exactly dreams are. Some people believe that
they’re just random images which serve no purpose, while others believe that they carry a
deeper meaning, though we’re all pretty much guessing here.
Some theories suggest that dreams are a manifestation of things we’d rather not think
about during the day, like sexual fantasies, though many modern scientists don’t agree
with that. What they do agree with, however, is that dreams are most likely symbolic of
something deep in our psyche, though no one can decisively say what. The jury is divided
on whether they serve any purpose at all, and it looks like it’s going to take a long time for
us to come to a universally accepted answer.
Check out Himanshu’s stuff over at Cracked or say hi to him on Twitter.
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454 Comments Listverse Login
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• Reply •
Mike • a year ago
This seems even more appropriate "Fuckin' Giraffes, how do they work?"
190
• Reply •
lolberals • a year ago> Mike
More memes, thank God. I thought someone was going to have an original,insightful comment for a a second there. Whew!
84
This comment was deleted.
• Reply •
lolberals • a year ago> Guest
Oh look, petty insults from behind the safety of a computer. Howrefreshing!
26
• Reply •
lonelydisco • a year ago> lolberals
Oh look, you've run out of counterinsults! C'mon! 6
• Reply •
Heisenberg • a year ago> lonelydisco
But he didn't insult anyone? 14
• Reply •
lonelydisco • a year ago> Heisenberg
Have you not read? The implication was palpable it was explicit. Allit's been doing was insult. That's all it does.
5
Recommend 3
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• Reply • 5
• Reply •
Heisenberg • a year ago> lonelydisco
"Implication", "explicit". Wow you are just a bundle of contradictions. 12
• Reply •
the Illuminati • a year ago> Heisenberg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
9
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> the Illuminati
I just watched that episode last night lol 3
• Reply •
Nathaniel A. • a year ago> The Ou7law
Is it your first watch through? The show really doesn't get into its fullstride until the 3rd season though.
3
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> Nathaniel A.
Yeah i just started watching it not too long ago 2
• Reply •
Nathaniel A. • a year ago> The Ou7law
It is the best show that is, was, or ever will be. 3
The Ou7law • a year ago> Nathaniel A.
I beg to differ my friend, The Walking Dead is by far the greatestshow of all time
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• Reply •
show of all time 2
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > The Ou7law
Sorry...that would be Doctor Who. :D 11
• Reply •
Mom424 • a year agoMod > oouchan
I'm going to give Breaking Bad the edge, just because it wrapped upso concisely and perfectly. But honestly they're not the same vehicleand shouldn't be compared. Dr. Who doesn't need to end, it's aseries of stories. Breaking Bad is one story.
4
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > Mom424
It's not really a series of stories but one larger plot with sub storiesunderneath supporting it. From the beginning it's been like that. Whatan awesome show. Breaking Bad is cooler than Walking Dead...at least it's original.
3
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> oouchan
You bite your tongue oouchan, you dont talk like that. One morecurse word like that and its soap in your mouth!
3
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > The Ou7law
hahaha! Off to the corner for me!
4
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> oouchan
Have you even watched the walking dead? 2
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > The Ou7law
Yes and found it boring. Got more out of Dawn of the Dead. It wasjust predictable....of course I'm not really into zombies (or walkers). Iprefer the drama with the funny that Doctor Who provides.
1
1DireWolf • a year ago> oouchan
I am so sick of zombies. I did watch an episode of the Walking Dead.I got through it by pretending the zombies were really members of the
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• Reply •
I got through it by pretending the zombies were really members of theTea Party. then it made sense.
4
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > 1DireWolf
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> oouchan
You need to watch it from start to finish the walking dead is not allabout zombies bro. Its about different people that cross there pathsas well, you need to give it a chance and you will be mesmerized
1
• Reply •
TheBusterMan • a year ago> The Ou7law
The first two series or seasons,were weak,but from series 3 it waspretty good.That Rick Grimes character is so weak,they should putthe crossbow toting red neck in charge (forgot hisname).But,Breaking Bad is far superior.
2
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > The Ou7law
I have watched it from the beginning and I can't get into it. Just notmy cup of tea. I understand about the people, but can't stand it.
1
• Reply •
Joseph • a year ago> oouchan
Doctor Who might be my favorite tv show as well. It's been on solong, I'm probably forgetting a good chunk of the timeline, though.Plus, I hate that some of the episodes were lost. I didn't really like thewar doctor storyline. I thought they should have just had the 9thdoctor be the one that used the weapon. The ninth doctor was a littlecrazy and it's kind of believable that he'd do something that extreme.I thought it was kind of a cop out to suddenly change the fate of thetime lords too... I guess I should stop randomly babbling now... TheWalking Dead comic book is actually pretty good. It's been a whilesince I read a comic book, but a friend of mine convinced me to readit and I think it's more original than the show.
1
oouchan • a year agoMod > Joseph
Fully agree with you on the War Doctor and the 9th Doctor. Couldhave been one and the same. My favorites in this order are number1, 10, 4, 8 and 9. The rest are...ok.
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• Reply •
1, 10, 4, 8 and 9. The rest are...ok. Read the comic for Walking Dead and it was good. Better than theshow.
• Reply •
Joseph • a year ago> oouchan
I'd have to say 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10. I thought the last doctor was tooyoung, but he was pretty good too. I've never watched a tv showbefore and thought "Why do these people still have all their limbs?". Iwatch it, but you're right, zombies have been overdone recently andthey're all pretty much the same.
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > Joseph
Same with vampires, but I'm looking forward to seeing The Strain.
• Reply •
Joseph • a year ago> oouchan
I've never read the book. I'll have to add that to my list now, though. Ilike the author (some of his movies anyway). I saw an advertisementfor the series, but I didn't know it was vampires. They have beenoverdone recently and the strange teenage romance crap really isn'tappealing...
1
• Reply •
Nathaniel A. • a year ago> Mom424
Doctor Who is simply a unstylishly dressed Englishman rompingthrough time with a vibrator firmly clasped in his hand. Where's themagic?
2
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> Nathaniel A.
*smirks* The vibrator is what causes the magic. ;) 7
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > Nathaniel A.
It's a screwdriver. The magic is there for those that actually watch the show. :)
2
Nathaniel A. • a year ago> oouchan
You are fighting an uphill battle. ;)
Realistically, I couldn't tell them apart if I hadn't just searched forthem.
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• Reply •
them.
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• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> Nathaniel A.
I am beyond proud of you Nathaniel for posting a picture. :'( I just hada tear run down my face
2
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > Nathaniel A.
Again....for those that watch the show, we get it. :)Nice picture, but I'll take the screwdriver any day!
1
• Reply •
Joseph • a year ago> oouchan
He's obviously never had a lot of cabinets to put up. 2
• Reply •
Nathaniel A. • a year ago> oouchan
So... the bottom one? 1
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > Nathaniel A.
Sigh.... 1
• Reply •
Nathaniel A. • a year ago> oouchan
*smirks*
therealsteve • a year ago> Mom424
The walking dead doesn't do much for me (not a big zombie fan) andI have never seen Breaking bad and I haven't seen a Dr. whoepisode in probably 35 years but I just got into Shameless withWilliam H Macy and Emmy Rossum. Its pretty damn funny. Watched
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• Reply •
William H Macy and Emmy Rossum. Its pretty damn funny. Watchedthe first 3 seasons in less than a week.
1
• Reply •
Bunnyrabid • a year ago> oouchan
Ahem..Animaniacs...Who doesn't love that show? 2
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > Bunnyrabid
aaaaaaaand now I have that song in my head. :)I still watch it. hahaha!
1
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> oouchan
I apologize but you are wrong
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > The Ou7law
Your opinion. :)Zombies are overplayed. Doctor Who is timeless.
6
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> oouchan
I will let Rick clarify things up
1
• Reply •
oouchan • a year agoMod > The Ou7law
Rick who? :) 3
• Reply •
The Ou7law • a year ago> oouchan
Hahaha, its a show about prepping for the real occasion.
• Reply •
TheBusterMan • a year ago> The Ou7law
Comparing The Walking Dead to Breaking Bad? You,sir,have lost it. 3
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