Credible Anomalies and Mysteries

While for the most part a FAQ covers the answers to frequently asked questions whose answers are known, in physics there are also plenty of simple and interesting questions whose answers are not known. Here we list some of these. We could have called this section Frequently Unanswered Questions, but the resulting acronym would have been rather rude.

Before you set about answering these questions on your own, it's worth noting that while nobody knows what the answers are, a great deal of of work has already been done on most of these subjects. So, do plenty of research and ask around before you try to cook up a theory that'll answer one of these and win you the Nobel prize! You'll probably need to really know physics inside and out before you make any progress on these.

The following partial list of open questions is divided into five groups:

Condensed Matter and Nonlinear Dynamics
Quantum Mechanics
Cosmology and Astrophysics
Particle Physics
The Big Question™

However, given the implications of particle physics and nonlinear dynamics on cosmology, and other connections between the groups, the division is somewhat artificial, so the classification here is somewhat arbitrary.

There are many other interesting and fundamental questions in other fields, and many more in these fields besides those listed here. Their omission is not a judgement about importance, but merely a decision about the scope of this article.

Since this article was last updated in 1997, a lot of progress has been made in answering some big open questions in physics. We include references on some of these questions. There is also a lot to read about the other open questions--especially the last one, which we call The Big Question™. But, we haven't had the energy to list it. [continued]

Hobbit" Discovered: Tiny Human Ancestor Found in Asia
Scientists have found fossil skeletons of a hobbit-like species of human that grew no larger than a three-year-old modern child (See pictures). The tiny humans, who had skulls about the size of grapefruits, lived with pygmy elephants and Komodo dragons on a remote island in Indonesia as recently as 13,000 years ago. [continued]

...They carved out a life for themselves in the high deserts of the southwest during the years of 500 - 1300 A.D. One of the great mysteries about these people has to do with their disappearance, because during the 13th century they just walked away from their settlements and never came back. Many recommendations have been made concerning these once great people. The suggestions have covered everything from the obvious to some very odd and disturbing ideas. However, despite all the controvesy, these people have managed to keep the academic world and the rest of the world wondering and guessing as to the possibilities of their fate that occurred over 700 years ago

Don Smith, College of Eastern Utah, San Juan branch: "I think we're becoming more aware that those people were far more familiar with astronomy, science and possibly math than we give them credit for."

In a secluded ravine near Blanding, scientists and researchers gather to watch mysterious images forming right before their eyes.

Although the rite of Spring, at least on our calendar, slipped in here yesterday almost unnoticed, it's literally in your face in this strange little canyon. [continued]

The first British Colony of Roanoke, originally consisting of 100 householders, was founded in 1585, 22 years before Jamestown and 37 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, under the ultimate authority of Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1584 Raleigh had been granted a patent by Queen Elizabeth I to colonize America.

This Colony was run by Ralph Lane after Sir Richard Grenville, who had transported the colonists to Virginia, returned to Britain for supplies. These colonists were ill-prepared and not particularly clever, because, although they depended upon the local Indians for food, they also antagonized the Indians by such tactics as kidnapping them and holding them hostage in exchange for information. Unfortunately for the colonists, who were desperately in need of supplies, Grenville's return was delayed. As a result, when Sir Francis Drake put in at Roanoke after destroying the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, the entire colony returned with Drake to England.

Interestingly, when Drake picked up these colonists, he left behind 15 of his own men, who were never heard from again. This foreshadowed one of the great mysteries of North America, Roanoke's so-called "Lost Colony" of 90 men, 17 women and 9 children, founded in 1587 and discovered to be missing in 1590, but for the word "Croatan" carved on a post. Although both the English and the Spanish searched for clues to the colony's disappearance for many years, the mystery has never been solved.[continued]

Will improvements in information technology eliminate face-to-face interactions and make cities obsolete? In this paper, we present a model where people make contacts and choose a mode of interaction: meeting face-to-face or communicating electronically. Cities are a means of reducing the fixed travel costs involved in face-to-face interactions. When telecommunications technology improves, there will be two opposing effects on cities and face-to-face interactions. First, some relationships that would have been face-to-face will be conducted electronically. Second, the increase in frequency of contact between individuals caused by improvements in telecommunications technology may result in more face-to-face interactions. If the second effect dominates, telecommunications improvements will complement both face-to-face interactions and cities. Our empirical work suggests that telecommunications may be a complement to, or at least not a strong substitute for, cities and face-to-face interactions. Q 1998 Academic [continued]

Conventional explanations for observations of anomalous behaviour of mechanical systems during solar eclipses are critically reviewed. These observations include the work of Allais with paraconical pendula, those of Saxl and Allen with a torsion pendulum and measurements with gravimeters. Attempts of replications of these experiments and recent gravimeter results are discussed and unpublished data by Latham and by Saxl et al. is presented. Some of the data are summarized and reanalyzed. Especially, attention is paid to observations of tilt of the vertical, which seems to play an important role in this matter. Recommendations for future research are given and its possible relevance to the Pioneer Anomaly is discussed. It is concluded that all the proposed conventional explanations either qualitatively or quantitatively fail to explain the observations.

A syncytium model to study some electrical properties of the eye is proposed in the attempt to explain the phenomenon of anomalous Light Flashes (LF) perceived by astronauts in orbit. The crystalline lens is modelled as an ellipsoidal syncytium having a variable relative dielectric constant. The mathematical model proposed is given by a boundary value problem for a system of two coupled elliptic partial differential equations in two unknowns. We use a numerical method to compute an approximate solution of this mathematical model and we show some numerical results that provide a possible (qualitative) explanation of the observed LF phenomenon. In particular, we calculate the energy lost in the syncytium by a cosmic charged particle that goes through the syncytium and compare the results with those obtained using the Geant 3.21 simulation program. We study the interaction antimatter-syncytium. We use the Creme96 computer program to evaluate the cosmic ray fluxes encountered by the International Space Station.

Animals used for disease detection in humans:

This is one that I missed. For years we have had anectdotal reports of dogs [esp] warning their masters of a medical threat. I recall that one man reported that for no apparent reason, his dog would not allow him to go for his daily walk along a remote road. Quite uncharacteristically, the dog simply refused to go. Within the hour the man had a heart attack.

I have heard and read quite a few reports like this over the years. One involved a woman whose dog seemed to have warned her that she had as skin cancer. The dog began nibbling at one spot on the woman's leg. Ultimately it was found to the site of a malignancy.

Now it seems that some medical progress has been made on this front wrt to lung and breast cancer.
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=105995

Language Center of the Brain Is Not Under the Control of Subjects Who “Speak in Tongues

...“We noticed a number of changes that occurred functionally in the brain,” comments Principal Investigator Andrew Newberg, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Psychiatry, and Religious Studies, and Director for the Center for Spirituality and the Mind, at Penn. “Our finding of decreased activity in the frontal lobes during the practice of speaking in tongues is fascinating because these subjects truly believe that the spirit of God is moving through them and controlling them to speak. Our brain imaging research shows us that these subjects are not in control of the usual language centers during this activity, which is consistent with their description of a lack of intentional control while speaking in tongues.” [continued]

Strange, bright flashes observed on the moon for centuries and often dismissed as the lunar equivalent of UFOs may in fact be emissions of volcanic gas. A researcher says he has reviewed the evidence for so-called lunar transients and found them to occur only in areas of the moon that belch radon gas, suggesting that the flashes could be the result of dust stirred up by such emissions—possibly volcanic in origin.

"A lot of people think that this is just craziness—this is up there with UFOs," says astrophysicist Arlin Crotts of Columbia University. "But no, this is real science. And it's something people should have done 30 years ago." Other experts, although intrigued, are not yet convinced of transients or Crotts's proposed explanation. [continued]

The Bloop is the name given to an ultra-low frequency underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration several times during the summer of 1997. The source of the sound remains unknown.