Here we are in the year 2016, a year so far into the future that our ancestors clearly thought we would know everything by now. And yet, against all odds, we don’t. Oh, there is so much that we don’t know. The universe is full of mysteries. And today I am spending my time trying to figure out the answers to life’s greatest questions.
Why Do Magnets Work?
I mean, we know how magnets work. We know that there are two poles, and that the north is attracted to the south, and vice versa. But do we know why? We know there are magnetic fields, and that the earth is sort of a huge magnet itself with very powerful magnetic fields around it, but why? Where do these magnetic fields come from? We can recreate them in a lab, but why do they occur naturally? And why do magnets always have a north and south pole? If you cut a magnet in half, each half will have two poles. Why? Please someone explain this to me.
The Jellyfish of Eil Malk Island
In 1998, rising water temperatures killed off every single golden jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake. The island of Eil Malk in Palau had other jellyfish that did not die off, but the golden jellyfish population was recorded as zero. Two years later they spotted a golden jellyfish in the lake. By 2012 there were as many golden jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake as there had been pre-1998. What?! How did that happen? Did someone bring a few over from another lake to repopulate the species? How does an animal go from extinct to re-thriving? Were a few of them just hiding?
Why is there More Life Near the Equator?
Biodiversity is out of control down south. We northerners think we have a lot of plants and animals up here, but what we have is nothing compared to the number of species in the tropics. Why? Pure chance? More solar energy down there? More land down there? More competition between species leads to more and varied evolution? Maybe life just likes it warm and wet? Who knows?! But I’d bet if you could definitively prove the answer you would win some sort of prize.
Why is there Gravity?
Did you know that we can explain what happens thanks to gravity, but not why it exists? Why do objects exert this massive pull (and the more massive the object, the more massive the pull!)? No idea. Ask a scientist. They don’t know either.
Where Did I Put That Bag?
I am frantically trying to get ready for Halloween, and I purchased a large number of important costume items, which I now cannot find. I have looked everywhere. Seriously, this has been a two-day scramble search in which I have come up empty-handed. This house is too big. I cannot find anything. Where could I have put it?! It is nowhere! I KNOW I had it! I am running out of time! If anybody knows where I put that bag, please contact me immediately. This may be one of the greatest mysteries of all time.