Do Good

The New Scientist has an article up with 13 Things That Do Not Make Sense. In this article the author is listing thirteen scientific problems that point at large gaps in our understanding of the basic principles that are the foundation of our being.

Do read the article, it is very well written and you are bound to learn something just from its description of the problems, but here is a short list:

The placebo effect - How do medicines actually work in our body if even just the anticipation of the effect can create the same results?The horizon problem - Why does the universe look the same in places beyond the reach of the Speed of Light?Ultra-energetic cosmic rays - How can they exist and where do they come from?Belfast homeopathy results - Do ultra-diluted chemicals effect our body?Dark matter - Does it exist or is our understanding of the basic laws of physics wrong?Viking's methane - Have we already found life on Mars but don't recognize it?Tetraneutrons - Again the basic laws of physics... still no clue?The Pioneer anomaly - Why is the unpowered Pioneer space craft speeding up?Dark energy - See dark matter.The Kuiper cliff - Is there a large tenth planet in our solar system?The Wow signal - Have the aliens already sent us a signal and we just don't get it?Not-so-constant constants - Is the Speed of Light not as constant as we'd like it to be?Cold fusion - Does it work after all?

Every single one of these problems could probably be solved with one or two billion dollars each, with unmeasurable effects on our lives and our future. New medicines, unlimited energy sources, an understanding of how we come to be here and if we are alone. Everything from new philosophical insights to practical advancements is locked up in these problems and all of them are solvable.

All it takes is the money and the will to Do Good.

Let's say it takes two billion US dollars each to solve all of these problems in the next couple of years. That's 26 billion, or the amount of money the United States is currently spending on the Iraq war in less than three months.

For three years now this country has been wasting lifes, unreplaceable resources and money on an unethical war based on lies and deception.