Unsolved Mysteries of Universe.
                     UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF 
UNIVERSE
Dark Matter
• Planets, stars, asteroids, galaxies the things that we can see  make up less than 5% of the total 
universe. 
• Scientists think another ~25% is a strange substance called dark matter: we can’t see it, we don’t 
understand it, but we’re pretty sure it’s out there because everything moves to its gravitational 
tune.
Source: stfc.ukri.org
Dark Energy
• So if dark matter makes up 25% of the universe and normal matter makes up 5%, what about the 
other 70%?
• Researchers think that the remainder is entirely ‘dark energy’, powerful enough to tear the entire 
universe asunder. Whilst dark matter appears to mesh galaxies together, dark energy seems to 
want to push everything apart.
Source: stfc.ukri.org
Origin of the universe
• We are inching closer to piecing together the earliest moments of the universe, but its true origin 
is still a mystery, and any theories or models of ‘creation’ are incredibly speculative at this point.
• While we have some idea of the universe when it was only 300,000 years old, scientists are still 
speculating about the extreme forces at play during the universe’s first moments.
Source: interestingengineering.com
Are there parallel universes?
• Astrophysical data suggests space-time might be "flat," rather than curved, and thus that it goes 
on forever. If so, then the region we can see is just one patch in an infinitely large "quilted 
multiverse."
Source: stfc.ukri.org
Where is the intelligent alien life?
• If intelligent life is reaching out to the universe as we are, scientists must be able to fully 
distinguish alien messages from all the other noise in space and even that is far from simple.
• What if their message is indistinguishable from other frequencies? the problem is as simple a 
matter as a mismatched transponder and receiver.
Source: stfc.ukri.org
Black Holes
• Black holes are regions of space in which the force of gravity is so powerful that everything 
around is drawn in. Not even light can escape, which is why we can’t see any of this going on.
• Experts think there could be up to 100 million black holes in our galaxy alone, and these 
monsters can grow to become billions of times more massive than the sun. 
Source: stfc.ukri.org
Does a Grand Unified Theory exist?
• A “Grand Unified Theory” is the idea that all of the basic universal forces are actually part of the 
same overall force playing out at different energy levels.
• Physicists have unified the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces, and at higher energies, the 
same thing should happen with the strong nuclear force and gravity.
Source: stfc.ukri.org
Where is all the lithium?
• Hydrogen and helium are still incredibly abundant and make up nearly all the mass in the 
Universe, though there is only about a third of the lithium-7 that we should see. 
• There are a wide variety of explanations for why this might have happened, including some 
hypotheses involving hypothetical bosons known as axions, and others believe it is trapped in the 
core of stars, which our current telescopes and instruments can’t detect.
Source: www.iflscience.com
Why is there more matter than 
antimatter?
• Matter and antimatter are equal but opposite. When they meet, they should destroy one another 
and leave nothing left over, and most of those annihilations should have occurred early in the 
Universe. 
• However, there was enough matter left over to make the billions and billions of galaxies, stars, 
planets, and everything else.
Source: www.iflscience.com
Does time exist?
• For instance, we imagine time flowing. However, for something to flow, it must flow with respect 
to something else, just as a river flows with respect to a riverbank. 
• Does time flow with respect to something else a second type of time? Most likely, the flow of time 
is an illusion created by our brains to organise the information constantly flooding in through our 
senses.
Source: www.sciencefocus.com