• Question: If you could make any one scientific discovery, what would it be?

    Asked by kayleighwarwick to Helen, Jenni, Mark, Martin, Stu on 22 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Mark Burnley

      Mark Burnley answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      It would be the definite discovery of life on another planet (no matter how primitive) whose genetic code is completely different to those found on Earth. This would provide evidence that life got started more than once, using different methods, and that, by extension, it should exist anywhere where life is possible.

    • Photo: Stuart Mourton

      Stuart Mourton answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      I think me and Mark are going to have a race as i’d say life that had evolved from a different source than our own. I think there are far greater minds than mine working on that though so i’m not holding my breath!!

    • Photo: Helen O'Connor

      Helen O'Connor answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      I like this quote from a 1996 Nobel prize-winner for chemistry, Sir Harry Kroto:

      “It will be totally unpredictable…If you can predict a discovery, it can’t be that important. Major advances should be totally unpredictable.”

      But as a psychologist, I would love us to one day have a complete understanding of human consciousness

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