Is String Theory the uniter it's purported to be? Why or why not?
597860
IT WOLD BE GREAT IF WE COULD GET EINSTEIN BACK TO WORK ON IT.EINSTEIN SAID IT WOULD WORK,AND WE HAVE NO OTHER BRAIN CLOSE TO HIS.I BELIEVE IF HE WOULD HAVE LIVED LONGER HE COULD HAVE SOLVED IT.THEN AGAIN IT MAY TAKE ANOTHER COUPLE HUNDRED YEARS,LIKE IT DID BETWEEN NEWTON AND EINSTEIN.MINDS LIKE THEIRS ONLY SHOW UP RARELY.
395968
string theory by it's very nature can never be observed, proven, or tested (see shadengers cat) thus, I would describe it as a faith, not a theory.
106275
These are very thorough answers.  But you asked for "simple," so here goes...\n\nAccording to string theory, "strings" are the fundamental building block of all matter...the old fashioned ones (atoms and/or their consituent parts) are in fact nothing more than strings vibrating a certain way.  If they vibrate one way, they're electrons.  If they vibrate another way, they're protons.  And so on.
18940
Life would remain simpler with no strings attached.  However, string theory deals with a universe with more that the dimensions we know day-to-day.  For example, you can calculate the diagonal of a square or a cube and the result has physical significance you can deal with.  The forth demension is time but what is meant by the diagonal of that figure no longer a plane or a solid?  What do we know of even greater dimensions, especially if they describe the very small that we can never see?  Certain of the equations that have been produced have enoumous numbers of solutions and it is difficult to find the correct solution and how to test it.  And that is only scratching the surface of a subject that has attracted some of the best brainpower on the globe.  Good luck.
336869
They can't be explained. That's why the aforementioned string theory hasn't met a wide acceptance. There are other difficulties with string theory, but they would take a while to explain.
1095974
this is sort of trival, dimensions can be thought of as derivatives, and you can take a formula and make any number of derivatives of the original derivatives and still end up with a line that bends, indicating no limit to the number of dimensions we can really conceive..   \nModern string theory is a bunch of hoo haa,   such a sub-atomic idea makes no sense, the reality we know could not have order if there were "strings".  "strings" have no way of organizing themselves into different sub-atomic particles, the universe would just be a bunch of "strings"
416781
Everything (atoms and sub atomic particles) is made of strings. What something is (which atom) is determined by how fast and in what way the strings vibrate.\n\nIt picks up where quantum theory leaves off, there are actually 5 or six string theories. recently they have been combined into "M theory"\n\nThe whole thing "sounds" really stupid.. but it seems to be how it is.\n\n\n(it does not have anything to do with genetics, it does have relevance to alternate realities but does not limit them to 7. for more on this, please ask another question.)\n\nps. the guitar explanation below is a good summary.
985630
11 dimensional string theory has not produced anything.\n\nIt is possible that the 7 dimensions that are not perceived are mathematical deception, and therefore string theory is a theory of nothing, as you will find if you read the wikipedia article on string theory.
360519
String theory is the idea that everything in the universe is made out of tiny, vibrating loops of string that are far smaller than the size of an atom.\n\nIn string theory, there are currently believed to be ten dimensions (plus one for time).  A dimension is essentually just a direction:  Left-Right, Up-Down, Forward-Back.  Originally, all the dimensions were very small with little rooom for movement.\n\nAt the time of the Big Bang, the three dimensions I mentioned expanded rapidly to create the enormous universe we see today.  The other seven dimensions are still tiny.  There is not enough room in them for us to detect them directly, but they do influence the behavior of strings on very small scales.\n\nAn example of symmetry is that the rules of physics where you live are exactly the same as the rules of physics where I live.  In other words, the rules of physics are location symmetric.\n\nAnother example is that (by using the rules of general relativity developed by Einstein) the rules are symmetric for all observers, even if they are accelerating in opposite directions.  An interesting result of this symmetry is that gravity warps the fabric of space itself.\n\nSuper-symmetry is another example, like the two I just mentioned.  The details involve more math though, so I won't go into it.  It hasn't really been confirmed by experiment yet, by physicists have been using it to make predictions for years.\n\nCalculations show that the tiny strings of string theory follow the rules of super-symmetry.  That is one reason string theory is widely accepted.  Together, the two ideas predict that all particles we currently know (electrons, muons, quarks, etc.) have a matching super-symmetric particle.\n\nSince none of these have yet been found, they are thought to have much larger masses than the particles who know of.  With the next generation of particle accelerators (such as the Large Hadron Collider scheduled to start operation next year in Europe), it may be possible to test the existence of the matching super-symmetric particles.  That is one of the current ideas for providing evidence for or against string theory.
57950
Not yet.\n\nThis is an incredibly active area of research in theoretical physics.  String theory is the most popular path of investigation right now, and is being worked on intensely.
122265
String theory suggests that when you travel back in time you actually travel into another dimension so theoritically speaking, you would be bringing back yourself from another dimension. But, I don't think you could even get back to your own dimension.
561306
you should read more into string theroy and the M theory.  they are both very interesting.  it is hard to wrap your mind around but  this is just one universe that goes along a membrane of universes that goes on infinetely.  the science channel often has show that explin all this much better and they make it pretty easy to understand.
283399
STRING THEORY, is one of the theories of modern sciences where it states that every thing in this universe is made of strings. The visual and other evidence of differences in objects is how the strings are. For example, longer strings mean more red color (this is a hypothetical example.) \nString Theory was predicted to give solutions to lot of problems in modern Physics. It has not ben proved yet, thus is not a complete true science yet.
1016999
Actually string theory is a special case of M-theory (M for membrane). It's not a question of "give everything about it," it's more "how much can you understand." Not all of us are capable of understanding this stuff. This page will give you a non-mathematical taste but if you really want everything, you'll need an advanced degree in mathematics.\nhttp://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3015388/
214408
According to string theory, the strings are the universe's \nelemental material. They vibrate in different ways and can\njoin and break apart to form different elemental particles\nthat make up the universe. The strings exist in 11\ndimensions: time, which physicists consider a dimension, and\n10 spatial dimensions. Four of those dimensions are the ones\nwe are familiar with, three spatial dimensions plus time.\nThe other dimensions may be so small they're invisible to\ncurrent detection equipment and are only known to exist because they leave a "footprint" of where they have been.
465485
Because "String Theory" as a whole has not yet made falsifiable predictions that would allow it to be experimentally tested, though various special corners of the theory are accessible to planned observations and experiments.\n\nInterest in string theory is driven largely by the hope that it will prove to be a theory of everything. It is a possible solution of the quantum gravity problem, and in addition to gravity it can naturally describe interactions similar to electromagnetism and the other forces of nature. Superstring theories include fermions, the building blocks of matter, and incorporate supersymmetry. It is not yet known whether string theory will be able to describe a universe with the precise collection of forces and matter that is observed, nor how much freedom to choose those details that the theory will allow.
707791
Besides the classic standard model of quantum mechanics, there's the superspace version where all possibilities happen in alternate universes.  Then there's string theory and its higher dimensional cousin m-theory.  As far as I know, that last is most current.  Recent Nobel prize for it at Institute of Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara.  But see link as well.