100 Big Unanswered Scientific Questions
The NY Times recently asked 100 scientists from across dozens of disciplines: “What is a big unanswered question in your field?” Here are some of their questions that caught my eye:
4. When and where did the cognitive capacities that made language, mathematics and complex societies possible first emerge?
9. Why does full writing — complete sentences that can make sense to readers out of context — appear so late in human history?
37. Why are humans the only species with a chin?
40. What is dark matter?
48. Do organisms use quantum effects, such as entanglement and superposition?
54. Will we ever decipher Linear A, Cypro-Minoan and other important ancient scripts?
61. What would be the global impact of a supervolcanic eruption in modern times?
70. Blue whales are the biggest animals ever to exist on Earth. Where are their babies born?
81. Chemical reactions have had a speed limit, described more than a century ago. Can we learn to surpass it?
93. Can environmental sustainability be achieved under capitalism?
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