13 Things that Do Not Make Sense

I'm sure there's more than 13 things that do not make sense », but New Scientist had to end the article somewhere.
(I'm trying something new: the '»' symbol is a link that will open the preceding link a new window.)

The 13 things they list are:

1 The placebo effect
2 The horizon problem
3 Ultra-energetic cosmic rays
4 Belfast homeopathy results
5 Dark matter
6 Viking's methane
7 Tetraneutrons
8 The Pioneer anomaly
9 Dark energy
10 The Kuiper cliff
11 The Wow signal
12 Not-so-constant constants
13 Cold fusion


More Below/Beyond the Link...

The article gives an explanation for each item on the list, briefly explaining some of the questions that surround them. It's a pretty good look at some of the mysteries that are still unexplained by science. Personally I wouldn't advise attempting the experiment they describe to demonstrate the placebo effect. In most jurisdictions that would be considered torture and in others (cue the rim shot) marriage. Hiiyooo!!, I'm here all week folks.

No seriously now, there are legitimate questions in science and, unlike the article I reviewed yesterday, this article does a little bit better at approaching the subject. And these articles are about the same subject, bad science, fringe science, wacky science, it all is the same thing. The unexplained and unexplored.

In my readings I've encountered many of the items on the list and have my own conclusions. To preface: I'm not a scientist, nor am I accredited by any institution that would give me any credibility. (heh) However I can read and follow many arguments in physics and chemistry thanks to a decent education. Yay Canada

Most of the items on the list are acknowledged mysteries of astrophysics and particle physics. Things ranging from Dark Matter to Tetraneutrons. And Most have little impact on life. Impact or not though, the Pioneer Anomaly is pretty cool. It just feeds the imagination to wonder why the probes are moving faster than they should as they exit the solar system.

Also on the list were a couple of the items dealing with health and biology. A subject I only know really through, well, being a biological sometimes healthy being.

The first, #1 (Placebo Effect), is a psychological/physiological mystery, and fascinating to behold. How it works is still unquantified, but the fact it works is well documented and accepted.

The other, #4 (Homoeopathy), I had always thought of as bad science. I'm sure that others disagree, and this is one of those subjects I railed about yesterday as something that needs to be treated seriously. So Seriously, it may make for good medicine, but the chemistry doesn't make sense so it's bad science.

For all the Homoeopaths and their followers out there if you are healthy, or improving then ignore my opinion. I wish you all the best in health and happiness. And really the only problem I have with Homoeopathy is the dilution theory. The idea that you can start with a mixture of water and a substance (ie:nightshade, or charcoal) and dilute it enough that there is nothing left of the substance. Essentially just water is left but that water still has the healing powers of the substance diluted out of it. Crazy enough for me, and a challenge to my preconceptions is the Belfast Study. Here is a controlled scientific study that seems to indicate some basis of truth to the dilution theory.

Two final items on the list that caught my eye were #6 (Viking's Methane) and #11 (the Wow signal). Both offer little in evidence, but they inspire hope in me that there really may be life out there. This is my own little bastion of bad science. I know that there is no evidence in support, and many logical arguments against, but I still believe, even if the only aliens I meet exist in the pages of my library.