we're all made of strings... WARNING: potential intellectual discussion inside

[Scapegoat]

I've learned of a new theory, some say its the answer to the "everything theory"... or the theory of... well, everything. This is a theory that is being worked on by physicists around the world. The string theory

basically, everything is made up of strings, why? well, because they've decided that there is a particle smaller than an electron/proton/neutron. For those of you who are scientificially challanged, those three are the particles that make up an atom. We can see these particles in powerful electro microscopes.

But what makes up those particles? little vibrating strings, or so a number of physicists are trying to prove.

They say, if we could stop an electron from moving and if we had a microscope powerful enough to see that small, we'd see these strings. Now, reread that sentence. Lots of "ifs".

On top of that, these strings exist in... 11 dimensions... thats eleven... 10+1, 5+6...eleven dimensions of existance. But of course, this is all theory. THere is no proof, we can't see small enough to see these strings, nor can we stop an electron from orbiting around neutrons and protons. Nor do we have access to any more than 3 dimensions, nor do we know of any more dimensions than 3... the 3 we exist in.

This apparent theory makes a ton of calculations answerable that explain certain "laws" of physics. But then again, those calculations are made up by physicists to explain those laws, and so is this theory and the numbers they plug into it...

Now, I'm not a gambling man, or a rich man... and I'm certainly NOT a religious man. But this whole string theory seems about as believable as god.

http://superstringtheory.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory

[Buster]

sounds cool to me..... mmm string cheese

[Snoozie]

Ive seen this on PBS before, very interesting. I didnt really get into it too much though and is probably too much for my little peanut brain to comprehend.

[Buster]

what are you talking about peanut brain? You got peanut on the brain??

This is one of those things like pondering the length of the universe, I cant get past like 30 seconds of trying to understand lol. Strings though just sounds funny.

[Jeffros Spec V]

Originally Posted by BluMeanie

Ive seen this on PBS before, very interesting. I didnt really get into it too much though and is probably too much for my little peanut brain to comprehend.

+1 I'm in chem now and my brain hurts enough from that class.

[Renegade_]

I've had discussions based on string theory before - the concept has been around for a long time

[Scapegoat]

if you've had a discussion on it, please add to this one. :-) Cause right now it sounds like a ton of bull-honkey.

I can discuss something like this, but trying to think of what was before the big bang, or if their are neighboring universes like some theorize... yeah. I mean, if nothing existed before the big bang, how did the big bang occur? Scientists say a lot of their physics calculations fall apart around the time of the big bang, but they won't accept that. So if physics didn't exist at the time of the big bang... how did it happen?

Anyway, back to the string theory...

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by Jeffros Spec V

+1 I'm in chem now and my brain hurts enough from that class.

lol, yeah. This string theory threw me for a loop since i'm studying and practicing Java like crazy right now and thats all I have, or want, on my mind... except for string theory. Now I'm thinking about that... and trying to prepare myself for a very important, life changing, interview on Friday....

[97TurboDSM]

i didnt read either of the links posted, but how did they decide that the smallest particles we know of were made up of strings? i'm sure those questions can be answered in the links above but i have a headache right now and im not going to read it. I find science to be super interesting and i should have continued my education as a science major but i switched long ago and im not going back, not now anyway. im not going to offer anymore of my thoughts until i read further but this sounds like if it does in fact get proved that a lot of questions will be answered.

[97TurboDSM]

thing about theory is, its just that, a theory. we all know that there are tons of theories out there for a multitude of unexplained things. some just happen to be more believeable/ easier to back up. anyway, im going to read before i offer up unguided thoughts.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by 97TurboDSM

i didnt read either of the links posted, but how did they decide that the smallest particles we know of were made up of strings? i'm sure those questions can be answered in the links above but i have a headache right now and im not going to read it. I find science to be super interesting and i should have continued my education as a science major but i switched long ago and im not going back, not now anyway. im not going to offer anymore of my thoughts until i read further but this sounds like if it does in fact get proved that a lot of questions will be answered.

I believe they decided that the electrons, protons and neutrons had to be made of smaller particles due to their nature. And when we smash an atom there is something left behind that is smaller than the electrons and protons and neutrons. I guess its something we can barely see in the most powerful of microscopes.

The theory is that these strings are the same in the three small particles, however they vibrate at a different rate and therefore resonate differently making the three particles different. And apparently they say electrons and what not exist in such a way that we can't actually touch them or something, so they exist mainly in a seperate dimension... or something like that

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by 97TurboDSM

thing about theory is, its just that, a theory. we all know that there are tons of theories out there for a multitude of unexplained things. some just happen to be more believeable/ easier to back up. anyway, im going to read before i offer up unguided thoughts.

all science is is theory. Gravity is still just a theory. We don't know what it is, we can't prove its source, or that it even exists. We know there is some kind of pull out there, but what is it exactly? We theorize its the planets mass pulling us down.

Now, consider this... we have an entire planet pulling down on us, on the moon, etc... however, a tiny magnet can easily lift a paperclip from a desk.

[97TurboDSM]

edited for rambling about nothing and trying to explain my thoughts. re-edit coming soon.

[Scapegoat]

ramble away, it makes for good reading :-)

[97TurboDSM]

haha i edited for fear of looking like an ill informed imbecile. rambling will be reposted lol

[Scapegoat]

meh, I'm sure I'm incorrect on a lot of points I mentioned. I didn't pay too much attention, watching the program last night made me feel like I was in church listening to someone tell me how god created the world in 7 days and the garden of eden existed etc etc etc.

[Renegade_]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

Now, consider this... we have an entire planet pulling down on us, on the moon, etc... however, a tiny magnet can easily lift a paperclip from a desk.

The pull of gravity is nonlinear, it is an inverse ratio. The gravity "falloff" increases at n squared, not just n.

String theory, as I understand it is based on the concept of a string, a single 1 dimensional object which resonates. That resonance from the 1 dimensional object causes it to exist in different places at once, thus creating the concept of matter, or filled space. With string theory, there are many dimensions (dont know exactly how many, this discussion was a while ago) in which the strings can exist. It is kind of hard to conceptualize other dimensions, but if you want to put it in basic terms, just imagine turning over a piece of paper 5 times and then on the sixth try it ends up being a picture you drew on the page a couple flips back.

I also had a discussion about dimensional perspective with my old calculus teacher. He showed me how you can attempt to put into terms "dimensional parallels" or parallel universes. It also attempts to show you time in physical terms. He described it like this (I drew this up but this is how he explained it):

http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?i...ensionsap5.jpg

And from that you can basically take we live in 4 dimensions.

The above is also applicable to string theory: If strings existed in higher dimensions they will be able to oscillate between multiple dimensions thus supporting a basic string theory idea.

[97TurboDSM]

that visual explanation of the dimensions makes it seem so simple. like duh, why didnt i think of that. referring to your post, the strings are said to exist in 11 dimensions. i'd be really interested to know exactly what scientists are doing with this theory as of right now. are they formulating some sort of experiment to prove/disprove this theory? are they still hypothesizing? i want to know what stage of the scientific theory they are in

[dubjinc]

None of string theory has been proven yet, but there are so many startling conclusions to tests that lead many scientists to beleive there is a lot more to learn about relationships between everything. Basically string theory is saying that evertything is connected by tiny vibrating strings, and those strings are the fabric of our universe, people are confused that the laws of phsyics applied to our world do not apply in outer space, or on the molecular level, and want one set of laws to govern all matter. What the bleep do we know is a movie about quantum phsyics and has some very interesting facts about crazy stuff. lots of scientists don't want to beleive many of the findings, simply because that would mean re-writing laws ..for the 4th time.

[Renegade_]

Originally Posted by dubjinc

None of string theory has been proven yet, but there are so many startling conclusions to tests that lead many scientists to beleive there is a lot more to learn about relationships between everything. Basically string theory is saying that evertything is connected by tiny vibrating strings, and those strings are the fabric of our universe, people are confused that the laws of phsyics applied to our world do not apply in outer space, or on the molecular level, and want one set of laws to govern all matter. What the bleep do we know is a movie about quantum phsyics and has some very interesting facts about crazy stuff. lots of scientists don't want to beleive many of the findings, simply because that would mean re-writing laws ..for the 4th time.

Yeah, I would say the majority of people don't realize this. People are taught stuff in school and they say it is a "Theory" but that quickly becomes synonymous with "this is how things are". Questioning outside of conventional wisdom isn't easy.