[extropy-chat] HISTORY: Solved & Unsolved Riddles

[Robert J. Bradbury]

On Fri, 7 Nov 2003, The Avantguardian wrote:

> Here are some of riddles and unsolved mysteries from science that are very curious indeed:

A very interesting list -- I'll comment on a few.


> 1. How do homing pigeons and other migratory birds unerringly find their
> way home? Do they have some special sensory organs to detect the earth's
> magnetic field? If so why haven't we found it and characterized it yet?
[snip]

I believe that the magnetic homing properties of birds and perhaps
butterflies have been reasonably characterized.  So this is not the
mystery it once was.  (Google on some combination of magnetic bird
migration).

> 2. What is the so called "Hotspot" detected in the Cosmic Microwave
> Background (CMB) anisotropy experiments? Could future transhumans use it
> to navigate deep space the way early navigators used Polaris the North
> Star to navigate the world?

This I am unaware of -- and would like to know more about.
If there is a "Hotspot" it could be a sign of a high computational
density location which would be of considerable significance
with respect to our thinking about the evolution of the universe
as well as our own species.

> 3. Why is all life on earth asymmetric at a molecular level. The amino
> acids that make up proteins on earth all have a "left-handed"
> (levorotary) chirality and the sugars that make up carbohydrates are
> "right-handed" (dextrorotary). [snip]

I believe this problem also has a "reasonable" proposed solution.
I cannot recall it in detail but it has something to do with the
interaction between light and dust in young stellar nebula.  Perhaps
Amara might know the specifics -- otherwise I'd have to go digging
for it.

> 4. How can sperm whales hold their breath for half an hour at a time,
> descend into the abyss, and have fights to the death with giant squid
> and then surface without getting the bends or nitrogen narcosis? We
> can't do that even with all our fancy diving gear unless we mix helium
> with our air supply and spend hours depressurizing... or can we?

Now that is a very interesting question -- my best bet would be that
they have evolved to be tolerant nitrogen bubbles in the bloodstream.
To the best of my knowledge there isn't a clear reason that nitrogen
bubbles should be harmful (i.e. they aren't toxic in any way).

> 5. How can some really bright people claim to understand the universe so
> completely that there is nothing eerie, anomolous, or mysterious about
> it yet still manage to misplace their car keys. ;)

When in doubt the smart people blame it on the Blue People.

R.