I was taking questions after a recent speech, when a person came up to the microphone and asked: "What are the five major things science has told us in the last fifty years that completely changes how we humans must think about life itself?"

The good news was that I had fifty years of science to work with, as opposed to one breakthrough or a single scientific study. For the most part, progress in science is glacial, inching along, even as parts of it fall away. Since science is simply about truth, every day small bits of the truth in all its facets reveals itself, while theories are adjusted or nuanced, or less frequently, abandoned altogether, when a new and unexpected vista opens up.

But over time, these tiny steps accumulate and interconnect, so that in fifty years time, great hunks of truth become apparent. Our only choice is to find a way to live with what we learn.

This, I think, goes to the heart of the question - not what science has discovered, but rather the changes that humans must make as a result. At the time, I fumbled around, and in many ways, I fumble around still. But I can hazard a guess …

It is clear that we live in a universe, which operates according to laws of physics and nature, which are being constantly uncovered. While we are able to see further and further out into deep space, we now understand that there may be more than one universe and that each would operate according to scientific laws of their own. Einstein showed us this with his mathematical equations. And that possibility is food for thought.

At the same time, science has underscored our vulnerability. To ancient man, the earth had its place, as did the sun and the moon and every planet and star visible to the naked eye. It was as hard to adjust to the theory that the earth was a spinning orb, as it was to later accept that the earth revolved around the sun. And let's remember, those adjustments did not come easily.

Now we discover new planets on an almost daily basis, and it's clear that a big hunk of planetary junk can come out of nowhere and make a direct hit on planet Earth. In the past, it just happened. Thanks to science, we can now see it coming, and that I would file under both good news and bad.

We have now confirmed the dramatic El Nino effect in the vast Pacific Ocean, and its cyclical effect on weather, and global warming is a common topic of conversation, whether or not you accept that humans and their use of technology have exacerbated the situation. Still, the idea that the Gulf Stream could stop flowing is difficult to grasp, since we thought it was as fixed as the moon in the night sky. The oceans themselves are like a familiar neighbor we now begin to see for the first time.

Science leads us down through every layer of nature, and eventually to man himself. We have become much more than skin and bones, tissues and organs. We are bacteria and proteins, genes and DNA, emotions and consciousness, and scientists work day and night, to discover more.

So, what will be the most difficult change in human thinking? His Holiness, the Dalai Lama says that when science reveals a truth which comes into conflict with religion, than religion must change. Yes, that, I think, will prove to be the most difficult of all.

I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.