Perceptions Of Science

[adventchildmatrix]

for my course work i need to identify two examples of each of the following

a. Questions that science is currently addressing
b. Questions that science cannot yet answer
c. Questions science will never be able to answer

thx in advance

p.s im not asking for you to do my course work but asking if you can help point me on to the right track for the answers.

 

[cwsilver]

a. Cancer and Global Warming
b. how the universe got started and how to get to mars quickly
c. God and....i can't think of another one lol

 

[Sigma LS]

a. climate driving mechanisms, extinction driving mechanisms, prolonged stays in space, organic solar cell technology, plastic metal honeycomb alloys, room temperature superconductors, fusion reactor technology, when did people first come to North America, etc.

science is about observing everything so folks are trying to answer all questions about the natural behavior and history of the multiverse on macro meso and micro scales



b. is always the same as A, if we already knew all the answers for anything why would we be working on finding answers?

JK- It has to do with the resolution of our instruments and the processing power of computers. For example, earth climate models used to treat every 100 square km as a single value like a pixel, now with better computers it's down to 100 square meters. However, you couldn't answer with current technology what the models would predict for a resolution of 1 square meter.

c. science is about observable phenomena, so if you can't observe it through either your own senses or a constructed instrument that serves as a proxy, you probably can't answer something about it


I think a distinction should be made here between science and engineering as well. Just because we know the science behind how a fusion reactor should work doesn't necessarily mean we'll be building a commercial power-producing one next year.

Scientists answer questions. Engineers solve problems.

 

[Bloodl3tt3r]

Sigma hit it pretty well. I'll still add to it.

a. Questions that science is currently addressing
-Right now, we seem to be working on the issue of longevity, human health, and the fundamental nature of the universe which we live in.
b. Questions that science cannot yet answer
-The fundamental "Why's" of stuff like time and the origins of the Universe (i.e. Why does time flow this way, why did the Big Bang occur, stuff like that)
c. Questions science will never be able to answer
-Religion

 

[adventchildmatrix]

Thx everyone who has helped out much apreciated and thx for not having a go at me for not doing it myself.




p.s one more thing does anyone know why we need peer review in science

 

[Sigma LS]

Basically so THIS doesn't happen. Checks and balances man.

 

[tlither]

Once again Sigma answered your question. There has to be a consensus. Basically, it has to be a check and balance system.

 

[BFDesigns]

for my course work i need to identify two examples of each of the following

a. Questions that science is currently addressing
b. Questions that science cannot yet answer
c. Questions science will never be able to answer

thx in advance

p.s im not asking for you to do my course work but asking if you can help point me on to the right track for the answers.

A) Hadron Collider in Switzerland; scientists are using it to study the big bang theory
Faster Than Light (FTL) propulsion; still highly theoretical due to that nagging E=mc2 rule
C) What's on the other end of a black hole? You'd never survive the trip, but based on the conservation of mass law, everything has to go somewhere so where does it all end up?

EDIT: The B followed by a parenthese does this apparently

 

[Toby]

a. Questions that science is currently addressing
-Right now, we seem to be working on the issue of longevity, human health, and the fundamental nature of the universe which we live in.
b. Questions that science cannot yet answer
-The fundamental "Why's" of stuff like time and the origins of the Universe (i.e. Why does time flow this way, why did the Big Bang occur, stuff like that)
c. Questions science will never be able to answer
-Religion

Nice list, although I'd like to add to a) b) and c)... here goes:

a) The theory of everything, as it would be the biggest breakthrough ever. But quantum mechanics and general relativity are hard to combine ^^

b) time: scientist don't actually know what time is, we can only measure it.

maybe, time doesn't exist. "time" may be a human construct for chaining (quantum) event, think of it like temperature, which is the average speed of particles observed. imagine, if you knock a cup of a table, and it smashed. now, you can describe that happening by chaining events (and then ... and then ... etc), and don't need "time" to describe what happened.
okay, so think about it. on a quantum scale, it gets horribly complicated, but I'm told it actually works, and you can express quantum mechanical without time, which helps the (you guessed it) theory of everything. if anyone is interested, new scientist had a really good article about this.

c) they are actually working on just that, with MRI scanners, e.g. also, many religious epiphanies (burning bushes, e.g.) have similar "symptoms" to an epileptic seizure. but I agree, science shouldn't mess with religion, it's bad enough that people misuse religion for bad science.

 

[Garland]

A. finding life on Mars, cloning woolly mammoths, building a probe to go beneath Europa's ice into a (hopefully) liquid sea
B. existence of: tachyons (theoretical particles faster than light), higgs-boson particle, dark energy
C. Heaven & Hell, deities (God, Allah, Krishna, etc.)