New Top Ten Science Issues

In the previous blogs, I presented my top ten science issues, the top ten of wikipedia documented unsolved science issues, and lastly the top ten issues from thelistuniverse site (http://listverse.com/science/10-great-unsolved-problems).

This blog presents another source of documentation of 125 questions facing scientists today. The list was provided by Science Magazine to celebrate their 125th anniversary, and published 1 July, 2005. I listed their top 25 below, and then I choose the top ten indicated by a " * ".



THE QUESTIONS
The Top 25

source: http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/125th/



> (1) What Is the Universe Made Of? *

> (2) What is the Biological Basis of Consciousness? *

> Why Do Humans Have So Few Genes?

> To What Extent Are Genetic Variation and Personal Health Linked?

> (3) Can the Laws of Physics Be Unified? *

> How Much Can Human Life Span Be Extended?

> What Controls Organ Regeneration?

> How Can a Skin Cell Become a Nerve Cell?

> How Does a Single Somatic Cell Become a Whole Plant?

> How Does Earth's Interior Work?

> (4) Are We Alone in the Universe? *

> (5) How and Where Did Life on Earth Arise? *

> What Determines Species Diversity?

> (6) What Genetic Changes Made Us Uniquely Human? *

> (7) How Are Memories Stored and Retrieved? *

> How Did Cooperative Behavior Evolve?

> How Will Big Pictures Emerge from a Sea of Biological Data?

> (8) How Far Can We Push Chemical Self-Assembly? *

> (9) What Are the Limits of Conventional Computing? *

> Can We Selectively Shut Off Immune Responses?

> (10) Do Deeper Principles Underlie Quantum Uncertainty and Nonlocality? *

> Is an Effective HIV Vaccine Feasible?

> How Hot Will the Greenhouse World Be?

> What Can Replace Cheap Oil -- and When?

> Will Malthus Continue to Be Wrong?

The original source contains a description of each of the 25 items, and it is a good summary of the item.

Top Ten Unsolved Problems

In the previous blog, I mentioned I would map the 151 unsolved problems to my top ten. My only criteria was that at least one unsolved problem was to be chosen from the seven (7) categories.

The following is my list (links are to the corresponding wikipedia references):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems

The list of unsolved problems may refer to several conjectures or open problems in various fields. The fields are listed below with the corresponding number of unsolved problems in each field (in parenthesis). It is then followed by the major unsolved problem(s) in each field (open for review).

Unsolved problems in linguistics - (13)
Unsolved problems in economics - (8)
Unsolved problems in mathematics - (55)
Unsolved problems in philosophy - (18 )
Unsolved problems in physics - (36 )
Unsolved problems in chemistry - (13)
Unsolved problems in neuroscience -( 8)

----------------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in%20_linguistics

(1) Origin of language is the major unsolved problem, despite centuries of interest in the topic.
-------------------------------------------------------http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_economics

(2) What caused the Industrial Revolution? This remains the most important unsolved question in all of, not only economics, but social science
--------------------------------------------------------http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_mathematics

(3) Goldbach's conjecture is one of the oldest unsolved problems in number theory and in all of mathematics. It states: Every even integer greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two primes.

(4) The relationship between the complexity classes P and NP is an unsolved question in theoretical computer science. It is considered to be the most important problem in the field - the Clay Mathematics Institute has offered a $1 million US prize for the first correct proof. In essence, the P = NP question asks: if 'yes'-answers to a 'yes'-or-'no'-question can be verified quickly, can the answers themselves also be computed quickly? In this context, "quickly" means "in polynomial time".

-------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_philosophy

(5) Firstly, what are the criteria for intelligence? What are the necessary components for defining consciousness? Secondly, how can an outside observer test for these criteria?
---------------------------------------------------------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_physics

(6) Dark matter: What is dark matter?[1] Is it related to super symmetry? Do the phenomena attributed to dark matter point not to some form of matter but actually to an extension of gravity?

(7) Quantum gravity: How can gravity and general relativity be realized as a fully consistent quantum field theory? Is string theory (M-theory) the correct approach? More pressing, how much experimental information can be extracted about physics near Planck scale?
---------------------------------------------------------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_chemistry

(8) What is the structure of water? According to Science Magazine in 2005, one of the 100 outstanding unsolved problems in science revolves around the question how water forms hydrogen bonds with its neighbors in bulk water.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsolved_problems_in_neuroscience

(9) Self awareness: What is the neuronal basis of subjective experience, wakefulness, alertness, arousal and attention? What is its function? Perception: How does the brain transfer sensory information into coherent, private percepts? What are the rules by which perception is organized? What are the features/objects that constitute our perceptual experience of internal and external events? How are the senses integrated? Is face perception special (e.g. innate)? What is the relationship between subjective experience and the physical world?

(10) Development and evolution: How and why did the brain evolve (the way it did)? What are the molecular determinants of individual brain development


====================================

In parallel to this effort of documenting my new top ten science/math problems, I encountered a web site that documented the "why the top ten of any topic is of interest": http://www.modernlifeisrubbish.co.uk/article/10-reasons-why-top-10-lists-are-so-popular ,

and also a web site on a similar list of the top 10 unsolved science problems :

http://listverse.com/science/10-great-unsolved-problems/


Note the parallel between my new list and this web list. We both used the same source, (Wikipedia), but we used different criteria on what what to be considered for the top ten.

Unsolved Problems

In the last post I documented just one unsolved problem in mathematics which I encountered in a book obtained from my local library: "Beyond Reason" by A.K. Dewdney.

I was now curious about other unsolved problems in Mathematics, and thus entered into the search box of Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia) the following: "Unsolved Problems in Mathematics". This led to a reference of unsolved problems (the number in parenthesis)
in the field of:

-- linquistics (13)
-- economics (8)
-- mathematics (55)
-- physics (36)
-- philosophy (18)
-- chemistry (13)
-- neuroscience (8)

I was just impressed at these unsolved problems, and now I am going to start thinking about what are the top ten of all these problems.

My original top ten science issues documented in the index page of this blog were obtained from just my experience of science and what were the issues I encountered during my life. Now we have 151 issues across various categories.

The mapping of my top ten map to the following categories:

1. Origin of Life -- philosophy

2. Meaning of Time -- philosphy and science

3. Dark Matter -- physics

4. Quantum Mechanics and Relativity -- physics

5. Evolution/Intelligent Design -- science (biology)/ philosophy

6. Mind/Brain -- neuroscience

7. Choas theory -- mathematics/physics

8. Nanotechnology -- applied science (biology/chemistry)

9. Artificial Intelligence -- philosophy

10. Multiple Universes -- science and philosophy

An Unprovable Theorem in Mathematics

My previous blog (Top/Ten Science Topics/Issues) was probably too general to get any comments (reactions from any readers). What about this approach - one unproven theorem in the arena of mathematics.

I started going to the local library recently to take out books on the science subjects of interest. One such book not only contained science issues, but also contained math issues. The book was
"Beyond Reason", A. K. Dewdney, Wiley Publisher, copyright 2004, On page 138 the auther was mentioning an unproven theory referred to as Goldbach's conjecture. When mathematicians encounter a statement that they think might be true, they call it a conjecture. If someone proves it to be true, the statement becomes a theorem. They can prove it untrue by showing just one counter example.

The conjecture is as follows: "Every even number greater than two is the sum of two prime numbers. Recall that a prime number is any natural number greater than one and divisible only by itself and the number one. The first 20 prime numbers are 2, 3, 5 , 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67 , and 71 .

Thus, some example of this conjecture are:
(1) 4 = 2+ 2
(2) 6 = 3 + 3
(3) 8 = 3 + 5
(4) 10 = 5 + 5 = 3 + 7
(5) 12 = 5 + 7

What I find interesting is that after 250 years, mathematicians are unable to prove (to make a theorem) or find a counter example. Computer searches have shown the first 10 to the fourteenth power ( one followed by 14 zeros or 100 trillion calculations) have failed to find a counter example.

Either there exists unprovable theorems or the standard arithmetic humans have been using since they started to count, is inconsistent. This is the author's conjecture. I find it remarkable that there exists unproven theorem, given the human mind.

My Top Ten Science Topics/Issues

I am a pre-"baby boomer" and just realized the power of blogging. I would like to begin my blogging sessions on one of my life-long interests -- science.

To start I will present my top ten science issues/topics. When I used blog search engines to gather material, I was impressed with the clarity of the material presented, and the knowledge of the author.

I am interested in your top ten. I realize there are many issues, but the blogging literature says to start small and gradually build. There are six billion people on earth, How many blog I do not know. Some blogger data bases track one hundred million blogs ( and the number is growing). To reach the global blogging community, I wonder if blog homepages and blogs are automatically re-written into the language of the receiver?


"O well..." -- These are my issues and I will be starting by creating links to knowledgeable sources/blogs. One good source to start your search on the issue is en.wikipedia.org. Just click on the highlighted W's for each item below. The highlighted B's are links to several blog sources on the subject. Many of these blogs are video. The I's are Image links pertaining to the subject. These images and the source were obtained from googles' image search engine.

Top Ten Science Issues/Topics:

1. What is life/Origin of life (W) (W2) (B) (B2) (I)

2. Meaning of Time (W)
(B) (B2)(I)


3. Dark Matter/Dark Energy (what is it) (W) (W2) (B)(I)


4. Quantum/Relativity Physics - (can one theory relate them) (W) (W2) (B) (B2)(I)(I2)




5. Evolution/Intelligent Design (W) (W2)(B )(I)



6. Mind/Brain - (Processing of Data into Information_ (W) (W2)(B )(I)



7. Chaos Theory (from order to disorder) (W)(B)(I)



8. Nanotechnology (to fight diseases) (W) (B)(I)



9. Artificial Intelligence (W) (W2)(B)(I)



10. Multiple universes (what was before "big-bang") (W)(B)(I)

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