25 Things That Scientists Are Surprisingly Still Unsure About

Contrary to what many people think, science by definition doesn't prove anything. In fact, the job of a scientist is to disprove the work of former scientists. This is how science as a whole progresses. By figuring out what doesn't work (which tends to be easier), we can figure out what does. At any rate, there are some things that we just haven't figured out yet. We may have a vague idea of what is going on, but the jury is still out. These are 25 things that scientists are surprisingly still unsure about.

25 Things That Scientists Are Surprisingly Still Unsure About | List25

Nutrition - It's good for you!
What the core of the Earth is made of - Probably nougat. Like a 3 Musketeers.
e vs pi - Most boring battle of all time.
Why we yawn - And I'm yawning cause I just read the word. Awesome.
What causes Earth’s magnetic field - A bunch of magnets, duh.
Whether fingerprints are unique - Like snowflakes...wait...
The Mcclintock Effect - "It's high noon!" No wait, that's McCree.
Sugar causing hyperactivity - SUGARSUGARSUGARSUGARSUGAR!
Why we sleep - Cause it feels so good.
Lie detectors - This sentence, is false.
The Moon - Still holding out hope that it's made of cheese.
Black holes - Interesting, but kinda scary.
Shower-curtain effect - JUST STAY DOWN!
Whether aspartame causes cancer - Let's not put this on our food, just in case.
The benefits of vitamin C during a cold - Maybe the C stands for cold? Probably not.
Pain - Smeagol: "Cruel men hurts us."
Moving sofa problem - PIVOT! PIVOT!
Ice - Ice baby.
How anesthetics work - I don't know how they work, but I'm glad they do.
How bikes work - I never had a bell on mine.
Consciousness - Don't think about this one too deeply.
Gravity - Just sit under an apple tree to think about this one.
Magnets - " ******* magnets, how do they work?" - ICP
How antidepressants work - Again, I bet a lot of people are glad they do.
How electricity moves through a medium - Not a psychic. That would be bad.

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24. Kelvinsong via wikimedia commons, 21. TStein via wikimedia commons, 20. Frettie via wikimedia commons, 13. wicker paradise via flickr, 11. Max Pixel, 10. Scott Robinson via flickr, 9. Claudio Rocchini via wikimedia commons, 8. Ian Mackenzie via flickr, 6. Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) via wikimedia commons, 5. Davidboyashi via wikimedia commons, 3. Geek3 via wikimedia commons, 1. M.O. Stevens via wikimedia commons

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[kittenisageek]

#6: I recently saw a TED talk where they found that the mechanism for bicycle stabilization is that the axis of mass for the rear wheel angles up over the front wheel, such that when the bicycle tips, the center of gravity for the rear wheel travels farther than the center of gravity for the front, causing the wheel to turn in the direction of the fall thus stabilizing the system.

[HopefulNerd]

From what I learned through nursing school, nitrous oxide alters how the individual perceive pain

[joshuacole]

This channel is one of the few to have great lists for videos. Great job guys!

[danielatherton]

Who else yawned when they started talking about it? 🙋🏼‍♂️

[ascra]

Well done for showing your sources but when ALL your sources are Wikipedia it makes your list look bad

[Rmanaseri]

This was a good one. Thank you. always worth staying up until midnight for list 25.

[CaptainCalculus]

26. The placebo effect...we have no idea why it exists and works

[theshockmaster]

this is the only list channel that doesn't have clickbait titles

[terrencezellers]

I'll make someone else scream if I hear this idiocy one more time.

EINSTEIN knew exactly that relativity and the Lorentz contractions matched Maxwell's equations. In other words he knew exactly that magnetism was a manifestation of electrostatic charge under relative motion. His demonstration was that the Lorenz contractions were properties of space and time and not of electromagnetic waves, hence that magnetism was a relativistic variant of electrostatic force.

This gets fairly hairy to work the math for complex cases but the simple example one of a moving electron at the center of a current coil makes it rather obvious.

Bottom line, we (at least physicists) do understand exactly what magnets are and how magnetism comes about. and how it relates to the other known forces (at least the troika of quantum electrodyanmics and special relativity). In short every magnet is demonstration of the reality of special relativity. (And yes we can do and have done many experiments to demonstrate the identity. I'm not aware of any that have failed to do so).

-- TWZ

[spectrum]

so yeah, Scientific Theories. I've run into a lot of people who think that if something is a scientific theory it must actually be fact. not actually, theory means that there is evidence that supports it, but is not yet proven conclusively. and in the realm of science scientific "fact" get turned on its head all the time.

[jayrajhbk]

Placebo effect? I think it hasn't been proven how or why it works

[n.h.]

what if ice has a water layer because its slowly always melting

[graftonhale]

Pi is NOT rational, it is IRrational because there are no repeating sequence of numbers.  Some supercomputers have extended Pi out to millions of places and, so far, no pattern has been seen..

[RavenIsAnArtist]

We got a picture of a black hole now, they exist.

[hiltonlam]

I am not quite a scientist yet (finishing my PhD)
But I am certain the guy who made this video has no idea what real science is!

[SaneBSBfan]

Why isn't the placebo effect on this list?

[ainsleyort]

But wouldn't yawning get more oxygen so you stay awake when you're tired? Although I guess that might be pretty hard to prove.

[kimberleebrackley]

Hey, the more we know, the more know we don't know. I don't believe that will ever change and for the most part l like that. Thanks Mike for another thought provoking list Hav a wonderful

[bills]

I like this fast moving format better than the others I've seen from list25; without the on-screen narrator and the overreaching humor.

[decoy]

Number 7, Good question, Good point: I was injured at work in my early 20's I severed 3 tendons and 1 nerve  now I cant say if I felt the pain of the surgery during the time I was under anesthesia but there is times I feel pains in the damaged area. most possibly phantom pain or repressed memory along with a damaged nerve but in all the surgeon did 1 hell of a job putting me back together again.