Cosmological Parameters and Scientific Mysteries
Hydrogen would exist, as all the hydrogen would have been fused shortly after the Big Bang. Other physicists disagree, calculating that substantial hydrogen remains as long as the strong force coupling constant increases by less than about 50%.
Omega ($\Omega$), commonly known as the density parameter, is the relative importance of gravity and expansion energy in the universe. It is the ratio of the mass density of the universe to the "critical density" and is approximately 1. If gravity were too strong compared with dark energy and the initial metric expansion, the universe would have collapsed before life could have evolved. If gravity were too weak, no stars would have formed.
Lambda ($\Lambda$), commonly known as the cosmological constant, describes the ratio of the density of dark energy to the critical energy density of the universe, given certain reasonable assumptions such that dark energy density is a constant. In terms of Planck units, and as a natural dimensionless value, $\Lambda$ is on the order of $10^{-122}$. This is so small that it has no significant effect on cosmic structures that are smaller than a billion light-years across. If the cosmological constant were not extremely small, stars and other astronomical structures would not be able to form.
Q, the ratio of the gravitational energy required to pull a large galaxy apart to the energy equivalent of its mass, is around $10^{-5}$. If it is too small, no stars can form. If it is too large, no stars can survive because the universe is too violent, according to Rees.
Hyperthymesia. Hyperthymesia (also called highly superior autobiographical memory) is a rare condition in which people can remember in incredibly detailed way what happened to them during any day in recent decades. There is no known explanation.
Cell differentiation. A generic stem cell can specialize to become one of many specific types of cells. But no one knows how this happens. Referring to a crucial aspect of morphogenesis, a Yale laboratory page confesses: "The process by which stem cells differentiate into various tissues is largely unknown due to the enormous complexity of signals, both chemical and mechanical." Trying to say that the growth of an organism is simply caused by cellular signals is a bit like an elementary school child saying they understand how television programs arrive on their TV, because they know it's all "just energy moving."
If our scientists were to accurately describe their lack of knowledge of how an egg the size of a grain progresses to become a full-size human, and if they were to accurately describe the failure of all neural explanations for human mental phenomena such as consciousness, thought, imagination, instant memory recall and memory conservation for 50 years, our scientists would have to confess that while they understand how a woman becomes pregnant, they actually do not understand the origin of any single human being.
The origin of consciousness is the problem of how it is possible that consciousness had its origin long ago from simple protoplasm. For a person who is reductionist and who believes that all human consciousness is simply a chemical and electrical byproduct of the brain, this problem may not seem like a great mystery. But the origin of consciousness has seemed quite a mystery to those who have considered how different the mind is from matter. For some, the idea that mind arises from mere matter seems as difficult to explain as the reverse (the idea that matter arises from mere mind, as might happen if one thought about the existence of an apple).