13 Things That Don't Make Sense

Not long ago, I ran across an article from the March 19th, 2005 issue of New Scientist Space titled "13 things that do not make sense." Of course, a title like that attracted my attention, and I discovered it to be a fascinating summary of 13 scientific oddities that have been observed and documented, and yet appear to be impossible according to the accepted laws of science. The observations range from the realm of cosmology (dark energy and dark matter in the universe) to nuclear chemistry (cold fusion) and medicine/psychology (the placebo effect), and make fascinating reading.

You can find the entire article online at http://space.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18524911.600, and it's worth reading if only to open your eyes to how strange the world around us really is. I remember reading a quote somewhere in which a scientist commented that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but it's queerer than we can suppose...and it's true.

Lots of things don't make sense to me, but most of them don't fall into the realm of science. Regular readers of this blog know they include topics like support for illegal immigration, unquestioning support for unrestricted ownership of firearms, and blind, unthinking political or religious faith. These are things that don't make sense, yet are within our power to understand and fix if we have the common sense and the political will. Since that's not likely to happen, it's somehow comforting to know that there are other things that don't make sense, can't be explained, and can be accepted with a sense of wonder, rather than a sense of outrage.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo