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Top 10 Unsolved Space Mysteries

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the robert-stack-voiceovers dept.

Joe Jordan writes "Space.com is advertising the Top 10 Space Mysteries for 2003, and perhaps for all time, given the current rate of discovery." Some of them are obvious, like the origin of life, and the possibility of alien life forms, but the list is still a good compilation of space's greatest questions.

21 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Is it on the list? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The *Terrible* *Secret* *of* *Space*!!!

    (First post? Perhaps... Maybe...)

  2. Dark Energy by Gyan · · Score: 0, Funny

    "Nobody knows what the heck it is, but it is officially repulsive. And man is it powerful! More powerful than gravity, even."

    Don't we call it Microsoft ?

    1. Re:Dark Energy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      sad thing is I wouldn't be suprised if he gets modded to +5 Funny or Insightful

    2. Re:Dark Energy by SomeoneGotMyNick · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's actually a product of the chili dinner I had last night. Talk about repulsive. Bodies in the vicinity move away at a very rapid rate due to its effects.

  3. I like the last one by lingqi · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Can we survive 2003?"

    I wonder how long it will take to find that one out? I bet a dollar to a donut that we know how that works out before we find out what's going on in the middle of the galaxy, though. any takers?

    --

    My life in the land of the rising sun.

    1. Re:I like the last one by Forge · · Score: 2, Funny

      I can solve them all.

      1. Dark Energy. It's the stuff that makes all the recent World Heavyweight champions as powerful as they are.

      2. Water on Mars. Yes, it's there but the stuff in France tastes better.

      3. The Murky, Mediocre Middle of the Milky Way. Come on. We have second grade everything. Why not the same for Black hole?

      4. The Origin of Life. One word. Creation.

      5. Lunar Secrets. If we bring down earth rocks from the moon they might have dormant bacteria to which we no longer have a defense. Bad idea.

      6. Are we alone? No. I'm an optimist and having failed to find intelligent life on Earth I am positive SETI will be successful eventually.

      7. The Sun. It's bright, it's big, it's hot. What's to understand?

      8. Age of the Universe. Anybody want to take this bet? When the best Telescope available is significantly (2x to 10x) better than the best currently available objects will be found so far a away that they set the minimum age of the universe at 30 billion years or more.

      9. Missing planets. They drifted by and got caught in the gravity well.

      10. Can we Survive 2003. Of course. Michael Clark Douglas and Bruce Willis can rescue us from anything.

      --
      --= Isn't it surprising how badly I spell ?
  4. And they don't even know... by insomaniac · · Score: 2, Funny

    the answer to all of it is 42

    --
    The way to corrupt a youth is to teach him to hold in higher value them who think alike than those who think differently
  5. 11th unanswered Question by beta21 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why are explosions in space circular and not spherical?

    and just for fun why do space captains always take off their shirts?

  6. top ten space mysteries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    10. Why is it so expensive?
    9. What was SciFi channel thinking when they cancelled it?
    8. What's the easiest way to rationalize putting weapons up there?
    7. When will people stop trying to take each others'?
    6. Why do I take up so much of it?
    5. Why are *you* taking up so much of it?
    4. Will adding a loft give me more?
    3. Is an illegal apartment a good way to make money off the excess?
    2. Is there a downside to replacing all of it with asphalt?

    and the #1 mystery about space:

    1. Where the hell do I put all this porn??

  7. Answers: by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. Dark Energy It's energy. And its dark. Think Star Trek glowy thing but looking at negatives.
    2. Water on Mars. Nope. Only chocolate, toffee, and some sort fo nougatish stuff.
    3. The Murky, Mediocre Middle of the Milky Way - A more important question - What is it with chocolate and space?
    4. The Origin of Life - Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much....
    5. Lunar Secrets - As any fan of classic Trolls knows, the moon is a ridiculous liberal myth. It doesn't exist. That's the secret.
    6. Are We Alone? - I was talking about this to Glarg - my venusian friend. He said that he felt that life on other planets was impossible. I'm not so sure
    7. The Enigmatic Sun - Enigmatic? the things a bloomin exhibitionist!
    8. Age of the Universe - I have the universes Birth Certificate right here. I think its rude to ask a univeses age though.
    9. Missing planet - Obviously, the planets are wrong, not the theory. Planets are stupid after all. They just go round and round in circles. Whatr do they know? Anyway, to solve this problem, we plan to destroy Uranus and Neptune.
    10. Can We Survive 2003? - I have a theory on this. The ramifications will take a while to work out. Can I tell you in 369 days time?

    1. Re:Answers: by LX.onesizebigger · · Score: 3, Funny
      10. Can We Survive 2003? - I have a theory on this. The ramifications will take a while to work out. Can I tell you in 369 days time?

      I don't know, can you? You tell me.

      --
      I for one welcome our new SCOviet Russian overlords to whom all our base are belong.
    2. Re:Answers: by lennart78 · · Score: 5, Funny

      4. The Origin of Life - Well, when a man and a woman love each other very much....

      Or, according to Al Bundy: A sixpack of beer and 2 horny teenagers...

    3. Re:Answers: by 91degrees · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or, according to Al Bundy: A sixpack of beer and 2 horny teenagers...

      I am trying to promote responsible astrophysics here.

    4. Re:Answers: by ch-chuck · · Score: 1, Funny

      What is it with chocolate and space?

      I'm still trying to figure out the marketing connection between Angels, clouds and toilet paper.

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  8. The possibility of alien life forms.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It's obvious! Didn't those scientists watch X-Files?

    --
    Government denies knowledge

  9. at least two counter examples by pyth · · Score: 2, Funny
    Not all space captains take off their shirts. Two examples come to mind.


    1. Captain Dylan Hunt of the starship Andromeda. Always fights in full body armor.


    2. Janeway, unfortunately. >:-(


    Oh, and mystery number 13: Why do ship computers add sound effects to explosions?

  10. Dark Matter/Dark Energy by JanusFury · · Score: 5, Funny

    What is dark matter, you ask? God needs to defrag the universe. It's little bits of discarded matter from ages past... just think, random garbled bits of your grandfather could be floating somewhere!

    --
    using namespace slashdot;
    troll::post();
  11. Re:wow, you must be psychic. by 91degrees · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes we will. And I offer a full refund if I'm wrong.

  12. No Kidding by sharkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dark Energy - Nobody knows what the heck it is, but it is officially repulsive.

    Well, it IS three-eyed alien poop. Of course it's repulsive.

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  13. Re:Limits of our intelligence? by fatboyslack · · Score: 4, Funny

    That is intriguing, and a little disturbing, but an analogy (say that quickly five times) that I like to use is me compared to my other co-workers when I was at McDonalds to put myself through Uni. And managers. For instance, we had someone come up to one of the front counter ladies and get change of two tens for a five. Twice.

    --
    Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -- Leo Tolstoy
  14. Re:If we really wanted to, we could *know* easily. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    That's really the other ultimate goal of space exploration, isn't it?
    Hardly. If the answer is No, then it might be the "ultimate" goal, but if we find the answer to be Yes, then there's nothing ultimate about it all. There will be follow-up questions like
    • How can we kill them? Do they taste good?
    • How can we have sex with them? Do they taste good?
    • How can we trade with them? Do they have anything that tastes good?
    • How can we censor communications with them and tax all trade and make sure no IP violations are happening?