Wtf is dark matter. There's something out there that makes gravity not work the way we expect on a very large scale, and "dark matter" is a theoretical substance that makes the math work out properly. But the fact that such a huge portion of the galaxy's mass is this hypothetical, undetectable thing makes it seem very hand wavy. The last experiment to try to detect dark matter that I'm aware of concluded with "we successfully didn't detect anything" 😞 having to deal with dark matter feels like trying to study atoms before the discovery of the neutron. I hope we figure this out in my lifetime.

In the depth of pandemic lockdown, after my roommate moved out to return closer to family, I was in my house alone for a month straight. One day I hear the tea kettle whistling on the stove.

It was the middle of summer, I hadn't made tea in weeks. Maybe I bumped the stove control? But there shouldn't have been any water in the kettle. And I hadn't been in my kitchen for over an hour and it wouldn't have taken that long for the water to boil had I put it on and just forgotten about it somehow. I keep my doors locked.

Idk, the only thing I can think of is the isolation really got to me that day, I put the kettle on and completely forgot I had done it five minutes later.

Where did the matter/energy for Big Bang come from? On that note, what is outside the border of the universe?

The Daytlov Pass incident. A lot of it could be explained as hysteria brought on by either cold or just fear after being in an avalanche; but how the hell did some of the victims have radiation burns?

Whether or not George Mallory summitted Everest.

Mallory was a great climber. People who knew him think he had the ability. Another member of his expedition saw Mallory and his partner, Andrew Irvine, close to the summit, but not close enough to be certain whether or not they made it.

Neither man returned from the mountain. Mallory's body was later found, many decades after he died. but Irvine was never seen again, dead or alive.

There are various other bits of circumstantial evidence, but the fact is we'll simply never know for sure. I like to think they made it.

How does the Universe expand? Isn't the Universe the container space of all that which exists, where does it expand to?

What caused the Bronze age collapse? Who were the Sea People?

Tunguska Event:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event

Why aren’t the basic laws of mathematics clean round numbers? Why are pi and e irrational? What secret is hidden down in the depths of these numbers?

what the hell are these for?

where do socks go in the dryer?

The voynich manuscript. It's so wild and interesting, a complete mystery too

What are things? What is energy? What is my soul? Where did it come from? Is it even in this spacetime, or is the body an avatar and I'm connecting into to it via some process? How was my soul created? Why do I experience rather than my body function solely as a biochemical robot? Where does my soul go when my body dies? Is there an end to eternity? If so, what happens or doesn't happen? If not, how does change continue? What does my soul do until then? I understand life. I don't understand experience.

One time I heard an assumption that every single electron is the same electron in different places and times. I asked a physicist what they thought of that idea. He thought for a moment and responded, "Would it even matter?" Sometimes I imagine that we are all the same person in different bodies living different lives. Every normal person, every genius, philanthropist, every monster, every slave, every billionaire, every dead fetus, every person I've dated, my parents,...we're all the same person living in a different body going through every single experience of life. When I do that, everything seems so simple.

So would it even matter? Yes, because what if individuality is false? What if we're all one thing, but the current structure of life doesn't allow us to experience it as such so we incorrectly think that each individual medium of perception is completely independent? Giving everything to others would be selfish. Working as a team for the benefit of everyone would be the ultimate selfish move. We could stop all competition, treat each other with utmost compassion, and maximize our limited time in each body. But alas, the selfish versions of us are too underdeveloped in that dimension to let that happen just yet. I wonder what it would take for each of us to reach the understanding that we're all the same soul.

Not exactly the prompt but I used to be hung up on The Boy in the Box mystery but I'm happy to report his identity has been found. His name was Joseph Augustus Zarelli.

I'm kinda partial to the fine-structure constant

Fine-Structure Constant (1/137): This dimensionless constant, approximately equal to 1/137, is crucial in quantum mechanics and electromagnetism. It characterizes the strength of the electromagnetic interaction between elementary charged particles.

It's weird because the number ends up in places that should be thoroughly unrelated yet that's one hell of it coincidence.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RCSSgxV9qNw

Hiccups

The stussy/cool S

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_S

Why do we park in a driveway and drive in a parkway?