125 most compelling puzzles and questions facing scientists today
Science magazine celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2005 with a special news feature that explored 125 big questions that face scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century.
The link. Some of my favourites are:
- What is the Biological Basis of Consciousness?
- Can the Laws of Physics Be Unified?
- How Much Can Human Life Span Be Extended?
- Are We Alone in the Universe?
- How and Where Did Life on Earth Arise?
- What Genetic Changes Made Us Uniquely Human?
- How Are Memories Stored and Retrieved?
- How Did Cooperative Behavior Evolve?
- Is an Effective HIV Vaccine Feasible?
- How Hot Will the Greenhouse World Be?
- What Can Replace Cheap Oil — and When?
- Will Malthus Continue to Be Wrong?
- Is ours the only universe?
- What is the nature of black holes?
- Are there earthquake precursors that can lead to useful predictions?
- Is there–or was there–life elsewhere in the solar system?
- What triggers puberty?
- Why do we sleep?
- Why do we dream?
- Do pheromones influence human behavior?
- What causes autism?
- What is the biological basis of addiction?
- Is morality hardwired into the brain?
- What are the limits of learning by machines?
- How much of personality is genetic?
- What is the biological root of sexual orientation?
- What gave rise to modern human behavior?
- What are the evolutionary roots of language and music?
- Are political and economic freedom closely tied?