100 Scientists Pose 100 Unanswered Questions on Science’s Biggest Mysteries
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 5
100 Scientists Pose 100 Unanswered Questions on Science’s Biggest Mysteries
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 5
Summary
The New York Times assembled 100 unanswered questions from 100 scientists, spanning mysteries about humans, Earth and the universe.
The project grew from a single prompt from the paper’s Science desk asking researchers to name the biggest unresolved question in their field.
The responses range from practical and urgent problems—such as sustainable wildlife trade and reversing aging safely—to foundational puzzles like what sets the laws of physics.
Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, offered one of the more curiosity-driven examples: why humans alone have chins, a trait even Neanderthals and Denisovans lacked.
Taken together, the list highlights both the breadth of modern science and how many central questions remain open despite advances across disciplines.
Why do modern humans possess chins when our extinct ancestors did not, and could an untestable evolutionary theory hold the ultimate answer?
With a groundbreaking 2026 FDA trial testing cellular reprogramming, could reversing human aging soon transition from a biological mystery to medical reality?
If fundamental physical laws are merely descriptive, what unseen forces actually dictate the hidden rules governing our entire universe?