String theory

What Ever Happened to String Theory?

At the turn of the century, it sounded as if string theory could give us big answers about the universe. Well… has it?

Physicists Revive 150-Year-Old ‘Knot’ Theory to Explain Matter-Antimatter Mystery

String theorists, this one may be for you.

A Black Hole Star Could Be the Trippiest Object in Space

The theorized object warps spacetime like a black hole but still releases light.

What We Will Never Know

Science and technology have evolved, but some things may always be beyond human knowledge.

Physicists to Split $3 Million Breakthrough Prize for Supergravity

Physicists Sergio Ferrara, Dan Freedman, and Peter van Nieuwenhuizen will split a $3 million Breakthrough Prize for their theory of supergravity, which drives much of today’s physics research toward our understanding of the universe. The Breakthrough Prize is an annual award to recognize groundbreaking science, funded by Russian-Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner. Though Breakthrough Prizes are…

How the Universe Ends

Somewhere between a second and a millennium from now, you will die. Your body and all of its parts will cease functioning and rejoin the Earth as regular, lifeless stuff. The Earth, too, will die, engulfed by an expanding, aging Sun. The Sun will burn off all of its fuel and end up a white…

String Theorists’ Heads Bobble Over Potential Dark Energy Wobble

Harvard physicist Cumrun Vafa is one of string theory’s strongest proponents. But this summer, other string theorists have been reeling from his latest conjecture, which might invalidate their ideas built on a decade-long assumption that dark energy is constant. Vafa’s work implies that dark energy’s value changes. A non-constant dark energy is a consequence of…

What are Gravitons and Why Can’t We See Them?

Gravitons are tiny particles that carry the “force” of gravity. They are what brings you back down to Earth when you jump. So why have we never seen them, and why are they so impossibly complicated we need string theory to figure them out? Find out here! Photons, Gluons, and Gravitons Light comes streaming at…

How ​Music Proves We Live In Three Dimensions

String theory has dimensions popping up all over the place. We are currently at over 10 dimensions. But how would living in that many dimensions affect us? The first thing to do would be to throw out all your albums, because they won’t sound right anymore. Three dimensions are convenient for sound waves. They begin…

What the Hell Are Tachyons?

Tachyons cause a lot of problems in movies with starships, but they also cause problems for people in real life. Specifically, they cause problems for students of relativity and string theorists. Learn about the ins and outs of tachyons, and why they need extra dimensions. Whenever the Borg come jumping out of a wormhole in…

Brian Greene explains string theory to us in just 14 words

Theoretical physicist Brian Greene joined us for a Q&A today where he answered several of our most burning questions about string theory, starting with the most basic: Just what is string theory anyway? https://gizmodo.com/brian-greene-is-here-to-answer-questions-about-superstr-1541336914 AnalogErik In 10 words or less, what is string theory. Okay, 400,000 words or less…. GO! bgreene It’s an attempt to…

10am-11am PST: Brian Greene Q&A on string theory

Brian Greene is here to answer your questions about string theory!

Renowned physicist Brian Greene is here to answer all your questions about theoretical physics, superstring theory, and his new online science education website, World Science U, launching today. Greene is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and the co-director of Columbia’s Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics, where he specializes in…

Scientists May Have Finally Found a Practical Test for String Theory

String theory a beautiful, elegant piece of science which claims to unify all the forces in the Universe by representing tiny point-like particles as one-dimensional vibrating strings. It’s as clever as it is wacky but is—conveniently—untestable. Until, perhaps, now. The problem is that string theory, sometimes referred to as the “theory of everything,” uses such…

This physics grad student made a mind-blowing Bohemian Rhapsody cover

Question: What do you get when you mix a cappella, sock puppets, string theory and Queen? Answer: The geekiest (and astonishingly good, musically speaking) cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” EVAR. Easily the greatest physics-themed cover of the classic we’ve ever heard. Seriously. The thing’s a masterpiece. To be fair, “Bohemian Gravity” may well be the only…

Does infinity really exist?

Our universe appears to be bound by a finite set of laws, yet we often talk about things that go on for an eternity. “Infinity” is a strange idea. But it’s crucial if you want to understand anything from philosophy to mathematics. Here’s why. There are three broad domains where infinity can be applied. It’s…

Humanity Will Never Be Overrun By Spontaneously Forming Space Brains

Good news, everyone! A new interpretation of string theory is proposing that Boltzmann Brains — those disembodied brains that could emerge spontaneously in outer space — will never outnumber humans. Yes, this sounds super-weird, but the whole Boltzmann Brain thing has troubled scientists for quite some time now. It was named after the theoretical physicist…

Must Watch: Neil deGrasse Tyson Moderates a Debate on Nothingness

For 14 years now, the American Museum of Natural History has hosted the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate – an annual meeting of scientific and philosophical minds, held in honor of one of modern history’s most formidable intellects. The debates are always fantastic, but this year’s topic – the existence of nothing – proved particularly compelling.…

How Do You Count Parallel Universes?

Cosmologists have been thinking for years that our universe might be just one bubble amid countless bubbles floating in a formless void. And when they say “countless,” they really mean it. Those universes are damned hard to count. Angels on a pin are nothing to this. There’s no unambiguous way to count items in an…

String theory, in 26 seconds

SciAm’s George Musser takes a crack at explaining one of the most complex (and controversial) concepts in all of physics — all in less than 26 seconds. Not bad, Musser. But can you do it for M-theory? What about those 11 dimensions of vibrating strings? https://gizmodo.com/the-trouble-with-string-theory-5890789 [Via SciAm]