Query: In looking at Earth’s past, scientists can predict what the future will look like

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Big data <=SEP=> Big data is a term for data sets that are so large or complex that traditional data processing application software is inadequate to deal with them . Challenges include capture , storage , analysis , data curation , search , sharing , transfer , visualization , querying , updating and information privacy . The term `` big data '' often refers simply to the use of predictive analytics , user behavior analytics , or certain other advanced data analytics methods that extract value from data , and seldom to a particular size of data set . `` There is little doubt that the quantities of data now available are indeed large , but that 's not the most relevant characteristic of this new data ecosystem . ''  Analysis of data sets can find new correlations to `` spot business trends , prevent diseases , combat crime and so on . '' Scientists , business executives , practitioners of medicine , advertising and governments alike regularly meet difficulties with large data-sets in areas including Internet search , fintech , urban informatics , and business informatics . Scientists encounter limitations in e-Science work , including meteorology , genomics , connectomics , complex physics simulations , biology and environmental research .   Data sets grow rapidly - in part because they are increasingly gathered by cheap and numerous information-sensing Internet of things devices such as mobile devices , aerial ( remote sensing ) , software logs , cameras , microphones , radio-frequency identification ( RFID ) readers and wireless sensor networks . The world 's technological per-capita capacity to store information has roughly doubled every 40 months since the 1980s ; , every day 2.5 exabytes ( 2.5 × 1018 ) of data are generated . One question for large enterprises is determining who should own big-data initiatives that affect the entire organization .   Relational database management systems and desktop statistics - and visualization-packages often have difficulty handling big data . The work may require `` massively parallel software running on tens , hundreds , or even thousands of servers '' . What counts as `` big data '' varies depending on the capabilities of the users and their tools , and expanding capabilities make big data a moving target . `` For some organizations , facing hundreds of gigabytes of data for the first time may trigger a need to reconsider data management options . For others , it may take tens or hundreds of terabytes before data size becomes a significant consideration . ''

Global catastrophic risk <=SEP=> A global catastrophic risk is a hypothetical future event that has the potential to damage human well-being on a global scale . Some events could cripple or destroy modern civilization . Any event that could cause human extinction is known as an existential risk .   Potential global catastrophic risks include anthropogenic risks ( technology risks , governance risks ) and natural or external risks . Examples of technology risks are hostile artificial intelligence , biotechnology risks , or nanotechnology weapons . Insufficient global governance creates risks in the social and political domain ( potentially leading to a global war with or without a nuclear holocaust , bioterrorism using genetically modified organisms , cyberterrorism destroying critical infrastructures like the electrical grid , or the failure to manage a natural pandemic ) as well as problems and risks in the domain of earth system governance ( with risks resulting from global warming , environmental degradation , mineral resource exhaustion , fossil energy exhaustion , or famine as a result of non-equitable resource distribution , human overpopulation , crop failures and non-sustainable agriculture ) . Examples for non-anthropogenic risks are an asteroid impact event , a supervolcanic eruption , a lethal gamma-ray burst , a geomagnetic storm destroying all electronic equipment , natural long-term climate change , or extraterrestrial life impacting life on Earth .

Scientific method <=SEP=> The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena , acquiring new knowledge , or correcting and integrating previous knowledge . To be termed scientific , a method of inquiry is commonly based on empirical or measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning . The Oxford Dictionaries Online define the scientific method as `` a method or procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century , consisting in systematic observation , measurement , and experiment , and the formulation , testing , and modification of hypotheses '' . Experiments need to be designed to test hypotheses . The most important part of the scientific method is the experiment .   The scientific method is a continuous process , which usually begins with observations about the natural world . Human beings are naturally inquisitive , so they often come up with questions about things they see or hear and often develop ideas ( hypotheses ) about why things are the way they are . The best hypotheses lead to predictions that can be tested in various ways , including making further observations about nature . In general , the strongest tests of hypotheses come from carefully controlled and replicated experiments that gather empirical data . Depending on how well the tests match the predictions , the original hypothesis may require refinement , alteration , expansion or even rejection . If a particular hypothesis becomes very well supported a general theory may be developed .   Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another , identifiable features are frequently shared in common between them . The overall process of the scientific method involves making conjectures ( hypotheses ) , deriving predictions from them as logical consequences , and then carrying out experiments based on those predictions . A hypothesis is a conjecture , based on knowledge obtained while formulating the question . The hypothesis might be very specific or it might be broad . Scientists then test hypotheses by conducting experiments . Under modern interpretations , a scientific hypothesis must be falsifiable , implying that it is possible to identify a possible outcome of an experiment that conflicts with predictions deduced from the hypothesis ; otherwise , the hypothesis can not be meaningfully tested .   The purpose of an experiment is to determine whether observations agree with or conflict with the predictions derived from a hypothesis . Experiments can take place anywhere from a college lab to CERN 's Large Hadron Collider . There are difficulties in a formulaic statement of method , however . Though the scientific method is often presented as a fixed sequence of steps , it represents rather a set of general principles .  Not all steps take place in every scientific inquiry ( or to the same degree ) , and are not always in the same order . Some philosophers and scientists have argued that there is no scientific method , such as Lee Smolin and Paul Feyerabend ( in his Against Method ) . Nola and Sankey remark that `` For some , the whole idea of a theory of scientific method is yester-year 's debate '' .

Physics <=SEP=> Physics ( from -LSB- φυσική , phusikḗ ( epistḗmē ) , knowledge of nature -RSB- , from φύσις phúsis `` nature '' ) is the natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion and behavior through space and time , along with related concepts such as energy and force . One of the most fundamental scientific disciplines , the main goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves .   Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines , perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy . Over the last two millennia , physics was a part of natural philosophy along with chemistry , biology , and certain branches of mathematics , but during the scientific revolution in the 17th century , the natural sciences emerged as unique research programs in their own right . Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research , such as biophysics and quantum chemistry , and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined . New ideas in physics often explain the fundamental mechanisms of other sciences while opening new avenues of research in areas such as mathematics and philosophy .   Physics also makes significant contributions through advances in new technologies that arise from theoretical breakthroughs . For example , advances in the understanding of electromagnetism or nuclear physics led directly to the development of new products that have dramatically transformed modern-day society , such as television , computers , domestic appliances , and nuclear weapons ; advances in thermodynamics led to the development of industrialization , and advances in mechanics inspired the development of calculus .   The United Nations named 2005 the World Year of Physics .