Do you think we will ever find a grand unification theory?
148569
No one really knows. However, one should not discount the creativity of humans, and the power of the scientific method. However, it might take another 5 years to come to fruition, or another 500. \n\nIt should be noted that the brane theory is not really a grand unified theory or GUT, but an even more ambitious type of theory called  a Theory of Everything, or TOE, that tries to explain all four fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, weak force and strong force) as aspects of the same thing. A GUT only tries to explain 3 of the four fundamental forces (electromagnetism, the weak force and the strong force). \n\n\nThe weak and electromagnetic forces have been effectively combined so far. The rest of the effort is still fairly speculative.
397017
You would have to be able to take a base measurement on the number of quarks that is associated with gravity in an area observed and tell over time if there is a gain or loss of quarks from the base measurement.\n\nP.S.\nThere is no way in the world that the current technology can even begin to do this provided that we would have to agree that // universes exist.
409135
supersymmetry is still hypothetical, so nobody is really sure.  Proof of it has not been found yet.
375583
The Planck epoch: 10-43 seconds\nSee also: Quantum gravity, String theory, and Loop quantum gravity \nIf supersymmetry is correct, then at this time the four fundamental forces – electromagnetism, weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force and gravity – all have the same strength, and are unified into one fundamental force. Little else is known about this epoch, although different theories make different predictions. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts a gravitational singularity before this time. Physicists hope that speculative theories of quantum gravity, such as string theory and loop quantum gravity, will eventually lead to a better understanding of the singularity, or even allow us to calculate what came before.\n\nThe Grand Unification Epoch: 10-33 seconds\nMain article: Grand unified theory \nAs the universe expands and cools from the Planck epoch, gravity begins to separate from the fundamental gauge interactions: electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Physics at this scale may be described by a grand unified theory in which the gauge group of the Standard Model is embedded in a much larger group, which is broken to produce the observed forces of nature. Eventually, the grand unification is broken as the strong nuclear force separates from the electroweak force. This should produce magnetic monopoles.\n\nCosmic inflation\nMain article: Cosmic inflation \nThe temperature, and therefore the time, at which cosmic inflation occurs is not known. During inflation, the universe is flattened and the universe enters a homogeneous and isotropic rapidly expanding phase in which the seeds of structure formation are laid down in the form of a primordial spectrum of nearly-scale-invariant fluctuations.\n\nReheating\nDuring reheating, the exponential expansion that occurred during inflation ceases and the potential energy of the inflaton field decays into a hot, relativistic plasma of particles. If grand unification is a feature of our universe, then cosmic inflation must occur during or after the grand unification symmetry is broken, otherwise magnetic monopoles would be seen in the visible universe. At this point, the universe is dominated by radiation.\n\nBaryogenesis\nMain article: Baryogenesis \nNo known physics can explain the fact that there are so many more baryons in the universe than antibaryons. In order for this to be explained, the Sakharov conditions must be met at some time after inflation. There are hints that this is possible in known physics and from studying grand unified theories, but the full picture is not known.\n\nThe early universe\nAt this time, the universe is filled with a quark-gluon plasma.\n\nThe electroweak epoch: 10-12 s\nSee also: Electroweak force \nIn electroweak symmetry breaking, all the fundamental particles are believed to acquire a mass via the Higgs mechanism in which the Higgs boson acquires a vacuum expectation value. At this time, neutrinos decouple and begin travelling freely through space. This cosmic neutrino background, while unlikely to ever be observed in detail, is analogous to the cosmic microwave background that was emitted much later.\n\nSupersymmetry breaking\nMain article: Supersymmetry breaking \nIf supersymmetry is a property of our universe, then it must be broken at an energy as low as 1 TeV, the electroweak symmetry scale. The masses of particles and their superpartners would then no longer be equal, which could explain why no superpartners of known particles have ever been observed.\n\nThe hadron epoch: 10-6s to 10-2 s\nMain article: Quark-gluon plasma \nThe quark-gluon plasma which composes the universe cools until hadrons, including baryons such as protons and neutrons, can form.\n\nNucleosynthesis: 1s\nMain article: Big bang nucleosynthesis \nAt this time, the universe is cool enough that atomic nuclei can begin to form. Protons (hydrogen ions) and neutrons begin to combine into atomic nuclei. At the end of nucleosynthesis, the uni
260891
Well, people have been spotting and reporting MACHOs for a long time, simply by how they affect light that passes through them.\n\nI believe that WIMPs, if they exist, would be the source for more of the energy density requirements to keep omega at ~1. MACHOs only exist within galactic halos, and are aggregated. WIMPs, on the other hand, are likely to be evenly distriubuted within and between galaxies, acounting for their rotation and their movements relative to one another. I think the lack of information about WIMPs is simply due to the limits of our technology in being able to detect particles that only respond to gravitational fields and require a lot of energy to make because they are heavy. If a particle does not interact with any force at all except gravity, it is likely to be a long time before we ever prove that it exists.\n\nI also think that the fermionic superpartner to the Higgs boson is a good candidate for the WIMP, and it is likely that the debate on the existence of supersymmetric particles will be put to rest as soon as those giant particle accelerators are built in Europe. I think the one is supposed to be online in 2008.
657882
I certainly believe he would eventually have come to a conclusive resolution to the problem because Western Science as well as Eastern Philosophy are being unified in the same way, by accepting the importance of intuitive thinking as a complementary element in relation to logical thinking in getting to T/truth/s.  Eastern thought has intuitively understood universal/existential truths for thousands of years longer than Western scientific deductive reasoning has allowed Western civilization to understand those same universalities.  Math and Philosophy are unifying because the universe is unifying.  Let me give you an example I got from a book called The Tao of Physics.  It provided philosophical proof that because of the elemental nature of the universe it is possible to travel in time, and then the author proved it using mathematical formulas provided by Western Science to support truth that had been formulated over a thousand years ago.  This is what I mean when I say they are unifying.  And, I believe Einstein would have come to his conclusions in the same way because so many of his colleagues were beginning to become involved in the study of Eastern philosophy as a viable approach to understanding the nature of the universe.\n\nNow, understand that I am not a physicist by any stretch of the imagination. I am an English professor by trade and a scholar by heart.  But, everything I have read over the years about this issue among many others having to do with the nature of reality and its relationship to our omniverses points in this direction.  Yet, I'm still afraid I am being more intuitive than I am being logical.  As a Libra, it satisfies my nature though, to come to believe these kinds of things the way I come to believe them.\n\nIt's not much of a mathematical answer, but it is an answer of sorts.  I hope it gives peace and contentment to you.\n\nCC Ryder
205433
At this point the big thing we're looking for is the higgs boson.  until we find that, all are ideas of what gravity is are unconfirmed.  All we can do is describe how it behaves.
668487
Ok, the parallel universe theory is a theory that some quantum physicists believe. The reason we have no detected them as of yet is because we can only detect forces and our forces would probably not be able to travel between the dimensions. In one version of string theory gravity is able to travel between the universes. If this is true we should be able to measure small fluctuations from the predicted value of gravity. So far they have tested this ont he scale of tenths of centimeters. There has been no evidence yet that there are parallel universes. If we get better equipment and we can measure that gravity does not follow newtons equation that may prove the existence of a parallel universe. I hope that helped
312883
Yes.\n\nThere is so much of this universe that we do not know.
1137754
I believe it. I also believe in the theory, in which, as you may also know, whole cosmos is going to turn back into that extra atom. What I wonder alot, when the expansion of the universe will stop and start to shrink back :=)))
1000671
"M" Theory is one current attempt at a Grand Unification Theory which reconciles the differences between Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity.  It is impossible to predict what applications could come from such a theory; it would certainly allow us to explain many, many things about our physical world that we do not understand now.  Such a theory may be a long way off, however.
8066
many have tried:\n\nConvergence in science includes a plethora of unification theories. In Consilience, Edward O. Wilson argues that all knowledge is unified around a small number of natural, interlocking laws. These fundamental laws, which we are just beginning to comprehend, govern disciplines as diverse as physics and the humanities. In A New Kind of Science Stephen Wolfram uses simple cellular automata (265 programs) to produce many results found in nature such as: tree branches, streams dynamics, and even the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics. In The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene describes superstring theory: a theory of everything.
724425
General relativity is not the final answer, since Einstein was never able to come up with the "Theory of Everything," i.e., the Grand Unified Theory.
273787
It has been shown that there is an answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything. It was computed by Deep Thought, but really didn't seem to provide , well... an answer.\n\nThe great computer kindly pointed out that what the problem really was that no-one knew the question. Accordingly, the computer designed its successor, the Earth, to find the question to the ultimate answer.\n\nHowever, due to a slight Golgafrincham problem, and a small hooha with some Vogons the program went a bit wrong. The whole problem remains just as mysterious as it always has been, but a little more frustrating.
150007
At the moment no one knows.\n\nString theories are one attempts to combine Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity, which is what a unified theory is. Thus far no complete theory and no testable predictions have emerged. Perhaps they will in time, or from some of the alternatives like loop gravity.
654192
Being an avid science fiction fan and part-time speculative thinker (or something), I would like to believe that there IS life out there.  The universe is so vast, surely the possibility exists.\n\nOnly don't you think we would have had some contact by now? Oh, yeah, maybe we have...nobody really believes that weather balloon story, do they?  Maybe that's the secret...
930067
A few years ago, Stephen Hawkings delivered a public lecture about "the end of physics", and conceded that Godel's theorem suggests that we're not ever going to reach "the ultimate theory of everything".  Here's a link containing his lecture.  In short, Godel's theorem, which orginally concerned logical theory, proves that it's not possible to know for any given number of assumptions accepted to be true, there won't exist statements that cannot be decided as a fact or not based on those assumptions.  Hawkings suggests that no matter what "ultimate theory of everything" we come up for physics, there could always be phenomenon not explanable by it.