zensunni

This question is in no way rhetorical or implying that things should be going faster. I'm simply curious what barriers in biology that people have yet to overcome in order to understand biology. Of course, it's a vague question, so I'll elaborate. The latest I've seen in genetic research was epigenetics or gene expression. So, why does it take so long to map epigenetic outcomes? If we know how elements and molecules react from chemistry, can't we just link an epegenetic expression to it's outcome? That is all I can think of that is not related to genetics or epigenetics. Here's a list of all the genetic/epigenetic related things (or at least, I think they are related): -Allergies -Diabetes -Immunities and germ resistances So, basically, I just want to know where the "frontline" is for biological research. Thanks for any information.

It occured to me that time could just be another spacial dimension and the reason we can't go back and forth through time like we do in space is because we've been flattened. The best explanation I can think of is a flipbook with a 3D picture on it. Every page represents a slice of the fourth dimension. A fourth dimensional object would take up space on multiple pages, while we are just stuck on one, constantly traveling to the other pages. Does this idea hold any water at all? I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thought of it.

I watched "the elegant universe" and it said that quantum mechanics is based on probability calculations. So, to predict something, you calculate the probability of it happening. What experiment has been done that shows sub-atomic particles behaving this way? How did they conclude these things? Thanks for any help! This forum is awesome.

Cool. Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the help. I thought the moon and earth had an off-centered center of gravity. I have another question, though: How does the moon keep the earth's axis rotation stable? Apparently, if we didn't have the moon, we would have almost a 90 degree turn every season. How does the moon stop this? And thanks again for the help!

My skepticism is probably just because of ignorance, but.... Regarding the double slit experiment when observing particles before the slit: Since the observation of a particle before going into a slit is an interaction between the detector and the particle, could the change be just a result of the interaction, not really the observation, itself? In other words, could the reduction of the wave be just a physical result of the detector's interaction? What process do they use to detect the particle in mid-flight, anyways?

This seems like a no-brainer, but does the earth's distance from the sun fluctuate due to the moon's pull? In other words, does the moon completely orbit the earth, or does the earth do a little bit of moving as well? To give an example, if you tie a string between two masses and spin them in the air, the bigger mass will still move around a little bit, even if the other mass is a fraction of the size. If so, how much does the earth's orbit fluctuate?