Biology
7 questions
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How did language begin?
Every human society has language, and no other species has anything quite like it. How did it arise?
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How did life begin?
Somewhere on the young Earth, chemistry became biology. We still don't know how.
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How do proteins fold so fast and so reliably?
AI can now predict a protein's final shape. How the chain actually finds that shape is still a mystery.
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Why are there so many species?
Theory says that where species compete for the same few resources, one should win. In the ocean, thousands coexist. The "paradox of the plankton".
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Why do we age?
Our bodies repair themselves all the time, yet with the years they wear out. Why doesn't evolution prevent it?
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Why do we sleep?
Nearly every animal studied sleeps, even though it leaves them defenceless. What is sleep for?
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Why does life use molecules of only one hand?
Chemistry makes left- and right-handed molecules in equal amounts. Life uses only one kind. Why, and how did it choose?