Wikenigma is a wiki which documents open problems ("known unknowns") across various scientific fields.[1][2]
 | |
Type of site | Online encyclopedia |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founder | Martin Gardiner |
| URL | wikenigma |
| Advertising | No |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 2016 |
| Current status | Active |
Content license | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 |
| Written in | PHP (DokuWiki) |
History
editWith the aim of creating a collection of the unknowns in science, the site was founded in 2016 by Martin Gardiner (not to be confused with Martin Gardner), a former contributor to Improbable Research, which hosts the satirical Ig Nobel prize. The wiki grew to have 500 entries by 2020, and as of May 2026 has 1280 entries.[2][3] The site was mentioned by internet personality Annie Rauwerda, who runs Depths of Wikipedia social media accounts.[2]
Content
editThe site is dedicated to "documenting fundamental gaps in human knowledge", per the wiki home page.[3] Gardiner acts as a curator for the site, and says he rejects entries which are unfalsifiable. Most entries are short, but provide links to other scholarly sources for the readers to investigate further.[2] Big Think commented that the site helps to counter the feeling that the sciences are complete by showing the unknowns we have yet to discover.[1] Only a few entries have been marked as "resolved" since their creation. One of them is the beeswax wreck mystery, which was resolved when a fisherman discovered the missing shipwreck buried under boulders.[2]
Some of the listed unknowns include:[1][2][4]
- Why humans blush
- Origins of golf
- Cause of the Mayan collapse
The site is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International license, which allows noncommercial use of the contents, but prohibits for-profit AI scraping.[2] The wiki uses the DokuWiki software.[5]
References
edit- 1 2 3 Thomson, Jonny (2023-05-02). "What science can't explain: The mysteries of Wikenigma". Big Think. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Steinkopf-Frank, Hannah (2025-04-06). "Wikipedia of the Unknown". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- 1 2 "Wikenigma - an Encyclopedia of Unknowns". wikenigma.org.uk. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- ↑ Hill, Allan Rose (2025-01-17). "Wikenigma is a fascinating encyclopedia of the holes in human knowledge". Boing Boing. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- ↑ "News". wikenigma.org. Retrieved 2025-04-07.