Wikenigma describes itself as "a wiki-based resource specifically dedicated to documenting fundamental gaps in human knowledge" that lists "scientific and academic questions to which no-one, anywhere, has yet been able to provide a definitive answer."
More than 1,100 of these "known unknowns" are documented on the site.
Here are some that the Wikenigma discusses in greater depth:
- Dark Matter: "To date, no experiment has been able to unequivocally detect any Dark Matter whatsoever. Leading some theorists to begin to doubt the existence of the Weakly Interacting Massive Particles which are presently proposed to be its key component.
- Plant Communication: "Although it has now been confirmed in multiple studies that many species of plants can 'warn' each other of problems with drought, predation etc, many details of the complex underlying mechanisms behind stress cues and their generation / reception remain unknown."
- Dreaming: "Not only is the function of dreaming unknown (if there is one), but there isn't as yet an agreed definition of what it is."
- Psychedelic Drugs: "Although it has been experimentally found that activating the 5-HT2A receptors leads to a marked increase in spontaneous (glutamate-mediated) synaptic activity in the prefrontal cortex, exactly how and why this leads to 'psychedelic' experiences remains unknown."
- Mayan Collapse: "Almost the entire civilization disappeared during the 'terminal classic' period of AD 830–950. There are now more than 80 theories which attempt to explain the collapse, but there is no common agreement amongst archaeological experts."
- Is the Universe a Computer Simulation: "According to some philosophers, it's impossible to construct a proof or disproof. "
- Chemical Bonding: "Despite more than 150 years of research, however, there's still not a full picture of exactly how the outermost 'layers' of electrons within atoms form the bonds."
- The 'Brain in a Vat' Problem: "The 'problem' comes down to arguments over whether it's possible (or not) to philosophically 'prove' that one (i.e. the observer) is not simply an isolated brain that is, in effect, imagining the entire world around it."
