Life, the universe, and everything - 42 fundamental questions

Abstract

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is found to be 42 -- but the meaning of this is left open to interpretation. We take it to mean that there are 42 fundamental questions which must be answered on the road to full enlightenment, and we attempt a first draft (or personal selection) of these ultimate questions, on topics ranging from the cosmological constant and origin of the universe to the origin of life and consciousness.

54 pages; downloaded more than 11,000 times from journal site

References in corpus (4)

• Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
• Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC
• Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
• The order of the quantum chromodynamics transition predicted by the standard model of particle physics

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Links between Entropy, Complexity, and the Technological Singularity
• ${}^3$He Universe 2020
• Quantum Mechanics and modelling of physical reality
• Mathematical General Relativity
• Light, the universe, and everything -- 12 Herculean tasks for quantum cowboys and black diamond skiers
• The sounds of science a symphony for many instruments and voices part II
• Interrelations between Astrochemistry and Galactic Dynamics