Scientific Facts Yet to be Explained

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The discussion revolves around unexplained scientific phenomena, with participants sharing various intriguing topics. Key points include the moon and star illusions, where the moon appears larger near the horizon and stars seem farther away. The conversation touches on high-temperature superconductivity and the controversial nature of cold fusion, highlighting that while anomalies exist, definitive evidence for fusion is lacking. A recurring humorous mention is the phenomenon of self-replicating coathangers. A significant focus is on ball lightning, described as a rare and mysterious phenomenon where glowing spheres of light appear, often following lightning strikes. Observations of ball lightning include its ability to pass through closed windows and its potential to scorch living beings without leaving burns. The existence of ball lightning remains debated, with some scientists proposing it may be a form of plasma. Various anecdotal accounts and experimental attempts to replicate ball lightning are shared, emphasizing its elusive nature and the ongoing quest for understanding these scientific mysteries.
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If anyone knows any scientific facts that haven't yet been expained by science please post them here.

Thank You.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Flight

Flight of Bees and Butterflies.
 
Moon Illusion and Star Illusion

The moon looks larger (i.e. closer) when near the horizon than when in the sky. The stars look further away at the horizon than in the sky.
 
high-temperature superconductivity
 
thanks ivan seeking.
 
You're welcome. :biggrin:
 
Self-replicating coathangers. (Don't try to tell me it doesn't happen; I have a closet full of the fartin' things and I started with 3. )
 
  • #10
Danger said:
Self-replicating coathangers. (Don't try to tell me it doesn't happen; I have a closet full of the fartin' things and I started with 3. )

You must have all the ones that mysteriously disappear from mine.
 
  • #12
The cold fusion bit isn't quite accurate. As I read the report, there was a consensus that there seems to be an anomaly buried in the results that people have gotten, but I don't think there is any good [or much] evidence that fusion is the reason. This is linked in the Credible Anomalies Napster linked above.

Also, we know how bees fly now.
 
  • #13
Danger said:
Self-replicating coathangers. (Don't try to tell me it doesn't happen; I have a closet full of the fartin' things and I started with 3. )
I always seem to be short on hangers. Maybe they're just migrating.
 
  • #14
quddusaliquddus said:
If anyone knows any scientific facts that haven't yet been expained by science please post them here.

Thank You.
:confused: If it hasn't been explained by science yet, how is it a scientific fact?
 
  • #15
Moonbear said:
:confused: If it hasn't been explained by science yet, how is it a scientific fact?

You can make valid and consistent observations of a phenomenon without knowing the cause behind it.
 
  • #16
i took a look at ivan's list, and all the things i had to say were there... EDIT: founk 'spook' lights: http://www.unmuseum.org/spookl.htm

i just wanted to add that the most interesting phenomenon I've stumbled upon was lightning balls -it was on ivan's list, but i wanted to highlight this one, because it's so weird and beautiful.
here is a simulated image of the lightning ball: http://www.unmuseum.org/ballite.jpg
Ball lightning is a rare effect in which a glowing, drifting bubble of light, typically some eight inches in diameter, appears. On the very rare occasions it is seen, it often, though not always, follows a regular lightning strike. The very existence of ball lightning has for some years been controversial. Many scientists contended that the glowing ball was merely the after-image seen by the witness after a regular lightning strike. (An after-image is the spot you see in your eye after watching a bright light like a camera flash). More and more scientists are beginning to accept the existence of ball lightning as a true electrical phenomenon. In fact, scientists at the Edinburgh University Department of Meteorology had their own brush with ball lightning when one morning, after a storm, they arrived at their offices and found a two and one half inch round hole, with smooth edges, in the window. Since the glass was fused, it is believed it was melted away by the passage of ball lightning.

Ball lightning when seen can be terrifying. In August of 1966 in Crail, Scotland, Mrs. Kitty Cox was out walking her dogs when she heard a tremendous clap of thunder followed by screaming. She saw children running as a luminous orange ball came hissing toward her. "My dogs panicked," she recalls, "and I watched it as it went past very quickly, hissing and whirring, and went right across into the sea."

One of the best observations of the phenomena occurred when Professor R. C. Jenninson of the Electronics Laboratories at the University of Kent was flying in an Eastern Airlines Jet from New York to Washington in March of 1963. The plane was caught in a thunderstorm and struck by regular lightning. A few seconds later a glowing sphere emerged from the pilots cabin and floated down the aisle. The ball, which was also seen by a stewardess, continued down the aisle and disappeared near the rear lavatory.

Ball lightning lasts only a couple of seconds, or up to a minute, then it disappears by either exploding or dissipating. Exactly what it is is still unknown, but some scientists believe it is a sphere of plasma. Plasma is the fourth state of matter besides, liquid, solid and gas. It is hot, electrically charged and fluid-like. While it exists in abundance in the universe inside stars it is usually not found on Earth except at the heart of a nuclear explosion. How it might exist as a free-floating bubble under normal conditions is unknown.

An artificial version of ball lightning has been reported on submarines that use huge batteries to operate their engines. Improper connection of the battery causes an electrical discharge that sometimes reportedly spawns glowing, hot balls. Professor James Tuck, of Los Alamos Laboratories, heard about this and attempted to duplicate with effect using a submarine battery stored on campus. Most of his tests produced nothing resembling ball lightning, but in a final experiment before the lab was disassembled Tuck introduced a low concentration of methane around the area of the discharge. The result was an unexpectedly large explosion and the end of the experiments. Later, film from movie cameras operating during that last test showed something Tuck hadn't seen at the time: a four inch round glowing ball.

they haven't said it on this quoted part, so i'll add it - lightning balls are know to pass through closed windows, they usually travel horizontally, though the may ascend or descend too, they have been roported to brush against living things and scorch them a little (not making burns)...

this is VERY interesting too: http://www.chukanovenergy.com/index.php?section=27
i found an image too.
BallLight.jpg


another picture may be found here, along with a long explanation from the one who shot it.
http://www.ernmphotography.com/Pages/Ball_Lightning/Ball_Lightning_ErnM.html
 
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