| In early 2001, a bunch of really smart guys with PhD's in things I can't pronounce decided it would be fun to think of 11 questions they can't answer and publish them in a science journal so they can recieve mega-funding from the government. Example:
Scientist: "I'm going to do a few experiments, so I need money."
Government Guy: "What are you working on?"
S: "I'm going to prove if there are additional spacetime dimensions."
G: "Why?"
S: "Because it's one of the 11 Key Questions About the Universe."
G: "Why didn't you say thiat in the first place? Here's 67 Billion dollars and the entire state of New Mexico!"
So you see. This part comes directly from the committee on the physics of the universe set up by the National Academy of Sciences...
The eleven questions are:
What is dark matter?
What are the masses of the neutrinos, and how have they shaped the evolution of the universe?
Are there additional spacetime dimensions?
What is the nature of the dark energy?
Are protons unstable?
How did the Universe begin?
Did Einstein have the last word on gravity?
How do cosmic accelerators work and what are they accelerating?
Are there new states of matter at exceedingly high density and temperature?
Is a new theory of matter and light needed at the highest energies?
How were the elements from iron to uranium made?
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