Universal Mysteries

“There are more things in heaven and earth,
Horatio,Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
- Hamlet, Act 1, scene 5

It seems at least once a century, the public comes to a consensus that science has solved all the big questions. This occurred in the early 1900s (pre-Einstein and Relativity) and I recently saw a new claim online that there is nothing “big” left to discover. I disagree and was delighted to find the article 13 things that do not make sense in New Scientist magazine.* The odd things can be divided into two types – cracks in our understanding of the physical laws of the universe and mysteries about life. I’ll summarize the life issues here since there is little application of physical constants of the Universe on a Preparedness blog.

• The placebo effect – a saline solution can block pain or reduce Parkinson tremors IF the patient believes that the medicine is real. Clearly the mind is more powerful than we know. Will this change the future of medicine? Think and be well?
  
• Homeopathy – a pharmacologist at Queen's University, Belfast, wanted to disprove the effects of Homeopathy (chemical solutions super diluted with water) but ended up proving that somehow the “water” is acting like the original chemical. Interestingly, homeopathy fails in large randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials (i.e. double-blind studies where the tester does not know which solution is real and which is fake.) Could homeopathy be some quantum-human effect where reality is impacted by our knowledge or expectations?
  
• Life on Mars? Test results from Viking were mixed. Martian soil exposed to a nutrient rich solution produced methane gas (a sign of life) but no organic molecules were found in a separate test. Years later other researchers announced they saw microbe fossils in a Martian meteorite. But other scientists think the fossils can be duplicated geologically without life.
  
• For 37 seconds on 15 August 1977 the “Big Ear” radio telescope at Ohio State University recorded a signal from the direction of Sagittarius that no one has been able to explain. The astronomer who first heard it scrawled “Wow!” on the signal printout. SETI says it was noise pollution, not aliens, but the debate continues.

Bottom Line

"It is those niggling scientific anomalies, which seem to make no sense, that most often give rise to scientific revolutions, changing the way we think about the universe and our place in it." - New Scientist book review

1. What if mind/intelligence can control matter? Would we become like gods and control the universe if we could master this mental energy?

2. It took the Copernican revolution to prove that the universe does not physically revolve around the Earth. However we still have the hubris to think that this entire universe exists for us alone. What will be the effect on philosophy and religion if we learn that we are not alone?

* The original New Scientist arcticle was published in 2005 and one of their most popular ever. It was recently updated with new links and again rose to the top of reader popularity. The author published a book on 13 Things That Don't Make Sense in 2008.