# Is There Anything Known To Be Real That Science Cannot Explain...At All? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315 "2012-03-30T20:14:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/141 "2012-04-03T00:54:10Z")
I could go for some grilled steak. U guyz? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/142 "2012-04-03T00:58:11Z")
We’re all for unexplained mysteries, not contrived ones that have been thoroughly debunked and answers found using Google for less than 15 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/143 "2012-04-03T01:07:50Z")
{} \<—applause ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/144 "2012-04-03T01:09:14Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > for one, I didn’t know about the fat-digestion thing, and it’s not findable via googling if you don’t know to look for it. Here’s the first paragraph of the first Google result for “gallbladder function”: > [@](#): > > The gallbladder is a small pear-shaped muscular sack that acts as a storage tank for bile. The bile is made in the liver by liver cells and is sent through tiny ducts or canals to the duodenum (small intestine) and to the gallbladder. The gallbladder stores the bile to have it available in larger quantities for secretion when a meal is eaten. The ingestion of food and especially fats cause the release of a hormone, cholecystokinin, (CCK) which in turn signals the relaxation of the valve at the end of the common bile duct (the sphincter of oddi) which lets the bile enter the small intestine. It also signals the contraction of the gallbladder which squirts the concentrated liquid bile into the small intestine where it helps with the emulsification or breakdown of fats in the meal. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/145 "2012-04-03T01:11:47Z")
ain’t \<—not a word. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/146 "2012-04-03T13:39:54Z")
This guy had the best answer to the OP: > [@CC](#): > > One way of thinking about the OP is to say that science cannot explain anything, really. Science describes what it observes, but ultimately, when the question of “why” keeps coming up, the answer comes down to, “that’s just the way the universe seems to work.” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/147 "2012-04-03T13:43:46Z")
> [@CC](#): > > This guy had the best answer to the OP: Thank you for your objectivity. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/148 "2012-04-03T14:12:54Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > ain’t \<—not a word. What? This is nonsensical. The only people who think “ain’t” isn’t a word ain’t too good at linguistics. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/149 "2012-04-03T14:14:08Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > What? This is nonsensical. The only people who think “ain’t” isn’t a word ain’t too good at linguistics. Yeah, I didn’t want to comment on that, but “ain’t” is most certainly a word. I don’t have too many grammar-related pet peeves, but insisting that “ain’t” isn’t a word is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/150 "2012-04-03T15:53:46Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > Re: the moon - at 1 time they were ‘sure’ it split off on its own from the bowl that became the Pacific Ocean. At another time, they were ‘sure’ it was a captured meteor. As of now, we still don’t know, but again it doesn’t mean we’ll \*never \*know. No, the impact theory of the formation of the moon is pretty well agreed on by astronomers these days. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/151 "2012-04-03T15:57:12Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > No, the impact theory of the formation of the moon is pretty well agreed on by astronomers these days. Until it’s not: [Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as moon's sole parent](http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Titanium_paternity_test_fingers_Earth_as_moon_sole_parent_999.html) ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/152 "2012-04-03T16:24:02Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Until it’s not: [Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as moon's sole parent](http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Titanium_paternity_test_fingers_Earth_as_moon_sole_parent_999.html) OK, it was until recently. The capture theory (the moon was wandering through the solar system independently and was captured by Earth) is not likely, though, especially not with these new results. The moon’s composition is just too similar to Earth’s for this to be likely. We also don’t think the moon could have spontaneously split off from the Earth, in the process creating the Pacific Ocean. We just don’t think the Earth could have spun fast enough (about a 2.5 hour day) to fling off the moon. Also, the Pacific Ocean has not been there since the formation of the moon. That theory predates the general acceptance of plate tectonics, and so assumes that the Pacific Ocean has always been there. We think the oldest rocks in the Pacific Ocean are only around 145 million years old, a lot younger than the moon. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/153 "2012-04-03T17:03:43Z")
As someone much smarter than me once asked: _Why do we remember the past but not the future?_ **- Stephen Hawking** ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/154 "2012-04-03T17:44:36Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > As someone much smarter than me once asked: > > _Why do we remember the past but not the future?_ **- Stephen Hawking** The future exists only as a placeholder until Now catches up to it. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/155 "2012-04-03T17:48:12Z")
Yeah. Your mom. I mean last night she…how can I explain this. I can’t really. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/156 "2012-04-03T17:53:07Z")
The Theory of Intelligence: Or why even smart people do and say stupid things. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/157 "2012-04-03T17:54:55Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Until it’s not: [Titanium paternity test fingers Earth as moon's sole parent](http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Titanium_paternity_test_fingers_Earth_as_moon_sole_parent_999.html) I’m just going to quote one of the commenters on that article: > [@](#): > > The Earth and the Moon are both children of the impact between the proto-Earth and the impactor. Earth after the impact would have also been a mixture of the proto-Earth and the impactor, just like the moon, so why wouldn’t this mixing create two bodies with the same mineral composition? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/158 "2012-04-03T18:14:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The future exists only as a placeholder until Now catches up to it. Which only raises another unexplained question: How is this “now” different than the “now” of five minutes ago? Is there any answer that is not a tautology? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/159 "2012-04-03T18:20:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I didn’t want to comment on that, but “ain’t” is most certainly a word. I don’t have too many grammar-related pet peeves, but insisting that “ain’t” isn’t a word is one of them. Its a word, but very informal. In the context of the most trite and grammatically egregious flame-out I’ve ever seen, using “ain’t” just bugged me alot. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315/160 "2012-04-03T18:29:13Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Which only raises another unexplained question: How is this “now” different than the “now” of five minutes ago? > > Is there any answer that is not a tautology? “Now” is an imaginary point on a timeline that extends backwards until, well…it doesn’t. There is no “now” of five minutes ago, because it ceases being “now” the instant after it happens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-known-to-be-real-that-science-cannot-explain-at-all/617315.md?page=9)