Obvious things that science cannot explain

Many people are sure that they understand the origins of basic concepts in school and take them for granted. However, you will be surprised to know that some concepts become basic because scientists are stumped by them.

Let's explore these things according to the synthesis from Cracked page through the article below.

1. Composition of water

It can be said that water is the most basic substance and it is present almost everywhere living things exist. Water accounts for ¾ of the Earth's surface area and more than 70% of our bodies.

However, the truth is that we know very little about this very common compound. It is a rather complex and mysterious compound .

The clearest example to show this is freezing . Normally, when any liquid freezes or becomes a solid, its volume decreases. But water is the opposite, when it freezes, its volume increases, estimated at about 9%.

This explains why water pipes burst in areas with ice and snow when the temperature drops too low. Or water bottles in the freezer can sometimes break or even explode when the temperature drops to 0 degrees Celsius... all because the volume of water increases when it freezes and causes huge forces.

There are many theories, some of which suggest that water contains air bubbles, and when it freezes, these air bubbles remain, causing the volume of ice to expand. However, there is no truly satisfactory explanation.

Another mystery of water is the slippery nature of ice . Why is ice so slippery that you can slide on it? More than a century after this question was posed, it has yet to be answered.

But the strangeness of water does not end there. The Mpemba effect leads to a strange phenomenon, which is that under certain conditions - when cooled together, hot water can freeze faster than cold water.

2. Speed ​​of time

We can create the future, change the present, but we cannot have any impact on the past. Along with that, time passes, everything " ages ". That is the most basic thing about time. But the truth is that time is more complicated than that. Time is more like an illusion , than a fixed variable in science.

According to Albert Einstein , we experience time at a relative speed. People who are sitting actually age more slowly than people who are moving (but the difference is so small that no one can notice it). This has been proven by the global satellite system GPS.

Satellites need to calculate and adjust their time to match Earth's because time on satellites is much slower than on Earth. This also explains why astronauts return younger than their peers after spending time in space.

In addition, the reason why the “time stream” only moves in the same direction as us is still a mystery to scientists. But despite the expenditure of so much brainpower and money, the mystery of time is still unsolved.

3. The mysterious abilities of plants

We know that plants are at the bottom of the food chain, they have no brain, no senses, and cannot move. They seem to be born to breathe and metabolize.

But would you be shocked to know that plants can even… do math? Research at the John Innes Center in Norwich, England has shown that plants have the ability to… solve equations.

They use this ability to calculate how much starch they store at night and adjust their diet to meet the demands of the sun. But all of this is done unconsciously, because plants do not have a brain as control centers do. What’s more, plants can also communicate actively in their own ways, whether it’s through vibrations, swaying, or smell.

For example, when we cut grass, we often smell a fresh and strong smell, or the characteristic smell of that grass. That is the scent that plants use to call for help. Plants do not have a nervous system like other living creatures, but they have a separate structure that is enough to feel pain, from which they emit a scent to warn their neighbors.

However, scientists have not been able to explain why plants have this characteristic, because no matter how much they warn of danger, they do not have legs to run.

4. The Infinity of Pi

What we usually know about Pi (symbol π) is that it is an irrational number, also known as an infinite non-repeating decimal. We often use Pi to calculate the circumference, area of ​​a circle, etc. However, according to scientists, Pi can be... everything.

As mentioned above, π is an irrational number, meaning it is an endless and unpredictable sequence. This also means that we cannot accurately calculate the circumference or area of ​​a circle.

Scientists even believe that the entire universe cannot contain π, because it is an infinite sequence of numbers. But not only that, this infinite sequence of numbers does not follow any rules , that is, there are no repetitions between the strings of numbers.

This shows that if you have the ability and patience to sift through the Pi numbers, you might find the code that created dogs, cats, humans, and even the universe.

That’s the theory, but until now, or maybe forever, we don’t have a computer sophisticated enough to decipher what Pi brings. This is still considered one of the top mysteries in science, but it is also a “basic ” concept commonly used in mathematics.

5. The real dimensions of space

We are living in a 3-dimensional world: horizontal, vertical and deep . However, after efforts to learn about space science, scientists believe that the universe has up to... 11 dimensions: horizontal, vertical, deep and 8 other... mysterious dimensions.

Unlike in science fiction movies, when referring to a “ dimensional space ” it means stepping into another world. In the real world, multidimensional space refers to moving dimensions only.

Some people believe that the fourth dimension is time . We can move anywhere, in any direction in the 3D world, but we can only move forward in time. If this is true, there are 7 other dimensions that scientists have not discovered.

But despite the difficulties, researchers are still trying to find other dimensions based on mysterious phenomena brought by the universe, such as the phenomenon of " quantum tunneling" - the phenomenon of matter particles disappearing at one location and appearing at another location.