What would you consider to be the 5 or 10 most important/fundamental questions
physicists are trying to answer currently?
Asked by: Peter Sullivan
Answer
That's a subjective question, but here is my vote for the most important questions
science currently has before it:
What is the so-called 'dark matter', known by its gravitational influence in the
Universe, composed of?
If the Universe is really expanding at an ever increasing rate, as observations seem to indicate, what force is responsible?
Ongoing theoretical research into a 'theory of everything', attempting to explain why fundamental particles and forces have the relative masses and strengths that they do. Is string theory a valid basis for this, or just a blind alley?
The ongoing search for the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle believed to be the
source of all mass.
Continuing study of the the origins and nature of life, and the search for life
beyond the Earth.
Answered by: Paul Walorski, B.A. Physics, Part-time Physics Instructor
'In a way science is a key to the gates of heaven, and the same key opens the gates of hell, and we do not have any instructions as to which is which gate.
Shall we throw away the key and never have a way to enter the gates of heaven? Or shall we struggle with the problem of which is the best way to use the key?'