“Laziness is the mother of progress. If he had not been too lazy to walk, he would not have discovered the wheel.” Physics is a great example, and it raises many questions as to how far we can go and understand how nature works.

For science, this is half-done, because ignorance can create many questions; And the other half can walk away with the doubts you have. At that “why” point you should always be a kid, boring some, smart to the world.

Such is our knowledge of the universe. You may think that we have already solved everything with the Big Bang model, which shows the origin of the universe from a single point of infinite density, which is due to space, time and all its objects. No. Increasingly accurate experimental observations prove this source and all the periods already described in the evolution of the universe, but this raises many other questions that we do not yet (yet) know. We continue on this adventurous journey of knowledge that creates ignorance, and vice versa.

So it is also present in particle physics. Explained by quantum field theory it is a little difficult in mathematics, but easy in concepts. The standard model describes the basic forces of nature and explains how matter is made. Think of a Lego: Some basic building bricks allow you to create many other things in the universe. I, you, your dog, the stars, the planets, the dust, the video game, the rocks, everything – these basic bits are the particles that make up the atoms.

Only three particles are needed for what is called ordinary matter: electrons and up and down quarks. However, in the last century physicists have discovered nine other particles of matter and five responsible for the fundamental forces of nature. Why do we have these extra particles? What is it worth? We do not know now.

There is much more: if only three particles could make stars, planets, pizzas, and billets (off!), It would be only a fraction of what actually exists in the universe. We are a rarity. Of all the existing ones, this makes us only 5% of the total. Another 27% we call dark matter, which modifies the rotational speed of galaxies; The remaining 68% is a form of “dark energy” against gravity that accelerates the expansion of the universe. Ready.

Because all of this is not known, thousands of scientists around the world are trying to explain everything we do not know, and many others are experimenting in an attempt to prove a pattern. With permission to interpret the poet from Minas, we can say that ignorance is the mother of science. Science is an adventure. As Einstein once said: “One thing I have learned throughout my life: our science is primitive and childish compared to reality – yet it is our most valuable thing”.

Marcelo Lapola is a physicist and doctoral candidate at the Institute of Technologyo Aeronautica (ITA).