From Bigfoot to finding life on Mars: Experts reveal which scientific mysteries we may FINALLY get to the bottom of in 2016

  • Three British scientists have shared breakthrough predictions for 2016
  • They include finding dark matter and a new particle using LHC in Geneva
  • New technology could also detect mysterious and 'extinct' animals
  • Experts hope 2016 will be the year we find life on other planets, like Mars 

From the origins of life to how the universe will end, there are plenty of mysteries for scientists to ponder over.

Now three experts have drawn up a list of scientific mysteries that could be solved this year, as well as how the answers will be found.

They include the creation of new elements, whether there's life on Mars and even if Bigfoot if real.

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There have been countless eyewitness accounts from people claiming they have found evidence of the elusive 'Bigfoot' creature (a reported sighting is pictured), but 2016 may finally be the year the mystery is solved. Advances in technology mean it is now possible to more carefully seek out rumoured animals

There have been countless eyewitness accounts from people claiming they have found evidence of the elusive 'Bigfoot' creature (a reported sighting is pictured), but 2016 may finally be the year the mystery is solved. Advances in technology mean it is now possible to more carefully seek out rumoured animals

Particle physicist Gavin Hesketh of UCL, behavioural ecologist Louise Gentle of Nottingham Trent University and chemist Simon Cotton of the University of Birmingham, made their predictions in a piece for The Conversation.  

Is Bigfoot real?

There have been countless eyewitness accounts from people claiming they have found evidence of the elusive 'Bigfoot' creature, but 2016 may finally be the year the mystery is solved.

Advances in technology mean it is now possible to more carefully seek out rumoured or never-before-discovered animals.

Trail cameras or camera 'traps' are small cameras that are remotely triggered when an infrared beam is broken. 

They can be left at a site for long periods of time without human involvement.

The cameras are increasingly being used in wildlife studies to monitor rare or elusive animals such as the Amur leopard that was documented in China for the first time in 62 years.

Drones are also increasingly being used in wildlife studies to survey inaccessible areas from the sky.

For example, a Canadian study found bears are now taking advantage of food sources such as geese and their eggs, possibly as a result of a changing Arctic climate.

Drones could be flown above a likely habitat of Bigfoot, or any suspected animal, in the hope that it would be captured on camera.

For example, trail cameras or camera 'traps' are small cameras that are remotely triggered when an infrared beam is broken and can be left at a site for long periods of time without human involvement. They are increasingly being used in wildlife studies to monitor rare or elusive animals such as the Amur leopard (shown)

For example, trail cameras or camera 'traps' are small cameras that are remotely triggered when an infrared beam is broken and can be left at a site for long periods of time without human involvement. They are increasingly being used in wildlife studies to monitor rare or elusive animals such as the Amur leopard (shown)

On Earth, wherever we find water we find life so, it follows that water on another planet means the potential for life there as well
Recent explorations of Mars found it has flowing salty water shown by the appearance of 'finger marks'

On Earth, wherever we find water we find life so, it follows that water on another planet means the potential for life there as well. Recent explorations of Mars found it has flowing salty water shown by the appearance of 'finger marks' that developed over a season (before shot is pictured left and the 'finger marks' are shown right)

Another of scientists’ best bets for finding life may be Enceladus, a moon of Saturn (illustrated). It has an icy crust but was recently found to have geysers spouting water vapour, making it one of the more likely places in the solar to contain life

Another of scientists' best bets for finding life may be Enceladus, a moon of Saturn (illustrated). It has an icy crust but was recently found to have geysers spouting water vapour, making it one of the more likely places in the solar to contain life

Is there life on Mars and other planets?

On Earth, wherever we find water we find life so, it follows that water on another planet means the potential for life there as well.

Recent explorations of Mars have dramatically developed our understanding of the planet, showing that it had a watery past and, more recently, that it has flowing salty water.

Alongside the continuing study of Mars, the Juno probe will, in 2016, study how much water there is on Jupiter.

Another of scientists' best bets for finding life may be Enceladus, a moon of Saturn.

It has an icy crust but was recently found to have geysers spouting water vapour, making it one of the more likely places in the solar to contain life. 

Dedicated experiments such as the Large Underground Xenon experiment (Lux) (pictured) are reaching new levels of precision as they are trying to directly detect a dark matter candidate known as the 'weakly interacting massive particle' as it interacts with ordinary matter on Earth

Dedicated experiments such as the Large Underground Xenon experiment (Lux) (pictured) are reaching new levels of precision as they are trying to directly detect a dark matter candidate known as the 'weakly interacting massive particle' as it interacts with ordinary matter on Earth

WHAT IS DARK MATTER? 

Dark matter surrounds galaxies across the universe, and is invisible because it does not reflect light. 

It can't be seen directly with telescopes, but astronomers know it to be out there because of the effects it has on the matter we can see.

The European Space Agency said: 'Shine a torch in a completely dark room, and you will see only what the torch illuminates.

'That does not mean that the room around you does not exist. 

'Similarly we know dark matter exists but have never observed it directly.' 

Scientists are fairly sure it exists and that it is crucial to the universe, but they do not know what it looks like or where to find it. 

What is dark matter?

Dark matter is the mysterious stuff that seems to be everywhere in the universe, and is five times more plentiful than the regular matter that makes up stars, planets and people.

But scientists currently only have indirect evidence for dark matter. 

That is through astronomical observations of the gravitational pull it has on stars and galaxies.

Until they can make a more direct measurement of it, they won't know for sure what it is and how it fits in with the standard model of particle physics.

Dedicated experiments, such as the Large Underground Xenon experiment (Lux) are reaching new levels of precision.

In particular, they are trying to directly detect a dark matter candidate known as the 'weakly interacting massive particle' as it interacts with ordinary matter on Earth.

So 2016 could be the year experts finally see this mysterious matter in the lab.

Gravitational waves are invisible ripples in the fabric of space and time caused by the movement of dense objects, like black holes. These waves spread out across the universe but have never been seen by scientists. Fresh rumours, however, suggest detectors in the US have picked up signals that may be gravitational waves

Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts gravitational waves (illustrated), which are ripples in the fabric of space-time. Despite the theory being 100 years old, they have not been found, mainly because they're so tiny. Hopes are high they will discovered this year by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory

WHAT ARE GRAVITATIONAL WAVES 

Scientists view the the universe as being made up of a 'fabric of space-time'.

This corresponds to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1916.

Objects in the universe bend this fabric, and more massive objects bend it more.

Gravitational waves are considered ripples in this fabric.

They can be produced, for instance, when black holes orbit each other or by the merging of galaxies.

Gravitational waves are also thought to have been produced during the Big Bang.

If found, they would not only confirm the Big Bang theory but also offer insights into fundamental physics.

For instance, they could shed light on the idea that, at one point, most or all of the forces of nature were combined into a single force.

In March 2014, a team operating the Bicep2 telescope, based near the South Pole, believed they had found gravitational waves, but their results were proven to be inaccurate.

Do gravitational waves exist?

Just as Maxwell's equations of electricity and magnetism predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves such as light, Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts gravitational waves. 

These waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time.

But even though Einstein's theory celebrated its centenary in 2015, scientists have still never seen them.

This is mainly because they are so tiny. 

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo) looks for these waves causing shifts 10,000 times smaller than a proton - which makes up the atomic nucleus together with neutrons - over a distance of two-and-a-half miles (4km).

Like the LHC, the Ligo detector came back online last year after a major upgrade, and within a week rumours were flying about a discovery.

While experts at Ligo have yet to comment, many hope 2016 will be the year we find Einstein was right. 

Is it possible to create more elements?

Since the 1930s, scientists have been creating artificial elements by smashing particles together to create new atoms.

They know of around 24 synthetic elements taking the periodic table up to the as-yet unnamed element 118.

With the recent synthesis of element 117 and the official recognition of the four most recently discovered elements, the remaining gaps in the known periodic table have now been filled.

The recent synthesis of element 117 and the official recognition of the four most recently discovered elements, the remaining gaps in the known periodic table have now been filled (shown). Scientists are continuing their attempts to extend the table further, trying to make elements 120 and above

The recent synthesis of element 117 and the official recognition of the four most recently discovered elements, the remaining gaps in the known periodic table have now been filled (shown). Scientists are continuing their attempts to extend the table further, trying to make elements 120 and above

Most recent advances have used the neutron-rich isotope Calcium-48 as a 'nuclear bullet' fired into another heavy nucleus to create a new element. An illustration of a calcium ion and an americium atom about to collide is shown above

Most recent advances have used the neutron-rich isotope Calcium-48 as a 'nuclear bullet' fired into another heavy nucleus to create a new element. An illustration of a calcium ion and an americium atom about to collide is shown above

Scientists are continuing their attempts to extend the table further, trying to make elements 120 and above, though suggestions that element 122 has been discovered seem misplaced.

Most recent advances have used the neutron-rich isotope Calcium-48 as a 'nuclear bullet' fired into another heavy nucleus to create a new element.

NEW PERIODIC TABLE ELEMENTS

Chemists around the world have celebrated the New Year with the addition of four newly discovered elements to the periodic table.

The new elements, which were verified by international bodies on 30 December and have been given temporary names, are the missing jigsaw pieces needed to complete the seventh row of the iconic table.

Teams of scientists from Japan, Russia and the US that uncovered the missing elements have now been invited to give permanent names to their new discoveries.

Further successes may involve either using an even heavier atom as the 'bullet' rather than a heavier target atom. 

However, a better nuclear accelerator may be needed for this.

It is hoped that – unlike most synthetic elements, which decay rapidly – a group of new heavier elements may exist in an 'island of stability'.

Could a new particle reveal a hidden dimension?   

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has already solved one mystery with the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012.

And last year, the LHC began Run 2 after a couple of years of upgrades, enabling it to smash protons together at almost double the previous energy.

The first experiments revealed a hint of a new particle, which could be the sign of 'super symmetry'.

This is a theory that proposes there is a heavier super-partner for every particle in the Standard Model – the current best theory of the subatomic world.

Super symmetry is important because it could explain many fundamental mysteries of physics, such as what dark matter is, or the way that the laws of physics appear to produce the world around us.

The new particle could also be a sign of hidden dimensions, a second Higgs boson or – before we get too excited – a false alarm – but only time and new data from the LHC will tell. 

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has already solved one mystery with the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and last year, the LHC began Run 2 which revealed a hint of a new particle. The new particle could also be a sign of hidden dimensions, a second Higgs boson or  a false alarm and the answers may come in 2016

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has already solved one mystery with the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012 and last year, the LHC began Run 2 which revealed a hint of a new particle. The new particle could also be a sign of hidden dimensions, a second Higgs boson or a false alarm and the answers may come in 2016

The Conversation

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