Hi, it’s Chris!
From strange sounds out of deep space to strange animal behaviour, here are 8 unsolved scientific
mysteries that we are still trying to figure out!!
8.
What is going on with Kava?
Kava is a drink or an extract made from a plant called Piper methysticum which is native
to the Pacific Islands.
It is often used as an herbal remedy for anxiety, sleeping problems, and emotional stress and
has a long history of use in alternative medicine and traditional ceremonies by Pacific Islanders.
Its euphoric and calming effects have been compared with that of alcohol and it is a
pretty popular social drink.
During the 1990’s, kava became popular in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
Some kava users in these parts of the world reported in 2001 that they experienced liver
problems due to the plant extract.
Following this news, kava was regulated or banned in several western countries.
While kava remains legal in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration recommends consuming
it cautiously and in limited doses due to its potential to cause severe liver problems.
The Australian Drug foundation reports that kava is a depressant and relaxes your muscles.
Oddly, the Pacific Islanders who’d been using kava for many years had no known history
of suffering from liver problems or other toxic effects from it.
There are several theories for why kava might affect users outside of its native region,
including the possibility of genetic differences between westerners and Pacific Islanders,
how the plant is prepared, and the type of kava that is consumed.
7.
What is Dark Matter?
The theory of the existence of dark matter was first proposed in 1922 Dutch astronomer
Jacobus Kapteyn.
Since then, scientists have determined that dark matter does, in fact, exist.
However, we can’t see it and we don’t know exactly what it is.
They learned that dark matter exists mainly based on observing how it interacts with matter
that humans can observe.
Dark matter does not adhere to the classification of most matter that is visible to us, which
is typically made of protons, neutrons, and electrons.
It’s made up of particles that haven’t yet been categorized, and these particles
interact with light and matter in ways yet unknown to humans.
Scientists know dark matter exists mainly because its gravitational influence bends
light as it passes nearby.
However, dark matter does not absorb, reflect, or emit light.
Since its inception, scientists have been trying to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.
Researchers have come one step closer, thanks to the Large Hadron Collider at the European
Council for Nuclear Research, or CERN.
By accelerating tiny particles and studying the energy and momentum involved when they
collide at high speeds, scientists hope to identify the invisible material known as dark
matter.
Despite this advancement, as well as the recently proposed possibility of seeing dark matter
via the use of gravitational wave detectors, science has a long way to go before the mysteries
surrounding dark matter are solved.
6.
The Causes and Cures of “Putrid Finger”
Putrid finger is what it sounds like.
This stinky condition first drew widespread attention in a 1996 Lancet article, which
described an unnamed Welsh man who had cut his finger on a chicken bone in 1991.
At some point after getting the injury, the 29-year-old man showed up at the emergency
room of Gwent Hospital in Newport, Wales.
His finger was red and reeked like rotten meat.
During his visit, the man consulted with four doctors.
The doctors attempted to treat the condition with all kinds of antibiotics but to no avail.
After the antibiotics failed, they had no choice but to resort to an invasive procedure.
No soft tissue damage, pus, or foreign body damage were discovered upon surgical exploration
of the smelly appendage.
The man’s finger carried its distinct odor for five years.
Throughout that time, doctors tried every solution they could think of, including UV
light treatment, antibiotic withdrawal, psoralen, colpermin, and more.
They pushed the Lancet article in hopes of finding other physicians who had encountered
the same strange affliction.
Definitive answers were never found, however, and fortunately for the patient, the smell
eventually disappeared.
5.
Fast Radio Bursts From Deep Space
In early September 2017, 15 blasts of radio waves hurled through space.
The episode was heard by astronomers, who described the blasts as “fleeting but extremely
powerful.”
The source of the bursts was a galaxy roughly three billion light years away and dozens
of times smaller than the Milky Way.
Scientists with the Breakthrough Listen project had aimed the Green Bank Telescope in West
Virginia to a location in the sky where a previous burst of radio waves known as FRB
121102 had been heard.
These types of waves were detected for the first time in 2007.
Around two dozen of these bursts have been observed, but FRB 121102 is the only one known
to repeat.
Because of that, it’s the only set of waves with an established “home galaxy.”
Energetic blasts such as these occasionally come from places with strong magnetic fields,
but scientists aren’t sure what causes them.
One largely favored theory is that the bursts represent collisions between, or explosions
near, extremely dense objects.
Some believe that the bursts are a form of signal or communication from advanced intelligence
- in other words, aliens.
What do you think causes these blasts?
Let me know in the comments below!
4.
Dozens of Octopuses Exit the Sea
It’s not unusual for an octopus to march onto land every now and then, usually to cross
from one tide pool to another.
But in late October 2017, over two dozen octopuses were seen walking on land in Wales.
The event even baffled one lifelong local, Brett Stones, who had never seen anything
like it.
None of the octopuses seemed injured or showed other signs of harm.
Stones and others helped to returned them to deep waters, and as soon as they landed
into the sea, they seemed fine.
Over the next few nights, however, Stones returned to the beach and observed several
dead octopuses.
National Geographic reached out to experts, who proposed three possible theories.
The first one proposed that the octopuses had gone senile.
With a lifespan of just one year, they usually die shortly after laying eggs, which they
typically do in October.
This theory fits with the timeline of the event.
It’s also possible that the octopuses had been displaced from the water by two recent
major storms named Brian and Hurricane Ophelia.
Other experts pointed to a 2016 study in Current Biology, which found that octopuses were possibly
being forced to travel farther than usual for food and shelter due to a booming population.
The large-scale visits by octopuses to the beach stopped around mid-November.
3.
WHY HUMANS CAN’T WALK IN A STRAIGHT LINE
In 2009, a German research scientist named Jan Souman co-write a paper about an experiment
that showed that humans are incapable of walking in a straight line.
The subjects of the experiment were blindfolded and told to walk in a straight line for up
to an hour, but instead, they walked in circles.
The experiment was conducted in various settings, including the Sahara Desert and the beach,
and the results were the same each time.
Souman then conducted the same experiment, but without blindfolds.
When it was cloudy outside and visibility was low, the volunteers walked in circles.
In sunny, hospitable weather, one test subject was able to walk a relatively straight and
steady line.
One conclusion of the experiment is that humans rely on external focal points to walk straight.
What scientists haven’t figured out is why.
According to Souman, there’s no single explanation for why we tend to walk in circles.
He’s currently working on a multi-causal theory.
So if you get lost in the woods, be careful to look for markers because you will most
likely be walking in circles for days.
2.
No Changes in Genomes
For millions of years, hundreds of small segments of the human genome, as well as those of other
animals, have remained unchanged.
Harvard Professor Ting Wu and her colleagues are trying to understand why.
These small genome segments are called ultraconserved elements, or UCE’s.
One theory for why they’ve remained unchanged for millions of years is because they carry
out life-sustaining functions.
Some studies have shown that UCE’s have no purpose, and don’t even play a role in
the production of protein, like most strands of DNA.
Scientists removed the UCE’s from mice in one experiment.
If UCE’s are essential to life-sustaining functions, this means the mice should have
died, but they didn’t.
In fact, they were completely healthy.
Professor Wu believes that UCE’s act as surveillance by scanning individual cells
for errors.
Her theory is called “surveillance hypothesis.”
According to the theory, a cell with many errors would be killed or commanded to exterminate
itself.
Even Wu herself admits that this theory is inconclusive, however.
1.
Why Humans Enjoy Music
There’s no scientific explanation for why humans have a natural inclination toward music,
but it would be difficult - and depressing - for most of us to imagine a world without
it.
If our brains have a music center, scientists haven’t discovered it yet.
They do know that comprehending and processing music is a high-order process involving multiple
parts of the brain.
When a person focuses on the harmony of a song, for example, their right temporal lobe
activates.
The right temporal lobe works closely with the frontal lobe to form “meaningful music
syntax.”
In a 2001 study conducted by McGill college, researchers determined that when someone hears
a song that gives them goosebumps, a certain part of their brain lights up - the same area
of the brain that is associated with other pleasurable activities, such as sex.
This simulation is associated with a few mechanisms that are related to survival, leading scientists
to believe that humans may have been conferred an evolutionary advantage of some sort by
being able to understand and appreciate music.
Would you like to learn more about unsolved scientific mysteries?
Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!