10 most important scientific questions - part I

This is my list of 10 most important scientific questions.

1. What is consciousness? How does it "emerge"?
2. What is the fate of universe? If universe collapses in big crunch what will happen after that? Endless void? What does it even mean? BTW, what was "before" big bang? I know time started in big bang. But suddenly why some 14 Billion years ago, universe had to start? And it started out of what? I placed consciousness before this question as answer to 1) may have implications for this, although it is probably even deeper question.
3. Are there other intelligent creatures in the universe? [I am pretty sure there are organisms outside earth, at least single celled ones like bacteria]
4. How exactly quantum wave function collapse to an eigen value occurs upon observation? Is it a "real" feature or an artifact of our current incomplete quantum theory?
5. How to build physical theories based on discrete space-time? It is obvious, that real numbers are anything but real [talk about infinite precision!]. Time can only be measured through some periodic activity and there is definitely a limit to fine grained granularity we can go into. Since time and space are interchangeable it implies there should be a limit to space measurements as well. That said why is our calculus [continuity] based theories working at all?
6. Are there any near earth objects which has high probability of collision with earth and wipe out humanity, in say next 1000 years? On a related note, are there any other 'planets' outside solar system within 10-15 rocket speed year distance we can live in?[in 1000 years we definitely would have colonised whole of solar system - Jupiter, Mars etc.]

Next 4 are in next post...

Genesis of purpose!

Great video from christmas lectures of 1991 by Dr. Richard Dawkins.

I was feeling a bit blue yesterday and tried to find purpose in life [I have long outgrown religions] and hit upon this video. I was totally refreshed by this video. Although I have seen it earlier, every time I see it, I get a different perspective. His style of explanation is excellent.

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Ep5: The Genesis of Purpose - Growing Up

Why animals die, but plants live forever?

I am just wondering what is it that makes animals die while plants seem to live forever. Why doesn't plant have "lethal genes"? Why don't they age [in the negative sense - wrinkles, menopause etc.] -
For example, is it hearts and brains - which are worth having despite them being prone to failure? Plants don't have either of them - their vascular system works through specialized cells passing on materials up and down [like construction workers passing bricks as opposed to water flow through pipes]. If they are prone to failure why are they so in the first place? Why can't heart cells and nerve cells be replaced [like the cells of trees "year rings"]? Or is it due to clogging of pipes [blood vessels]?

Particularly menopause as standard behaviour [instead of recessive] is very confusing! Why would evolution evolve this behaviour? Particularly see the effect it has on highly career oriented women - [not in any derogatory sense - it is their choice, although I would never marry such a woman myself]!