Current Thoughts in String Theory

DrLudicrous writes "The NYTimes is running a nice little synopsis of the current ideas in string theory. Apparently, there is still quite a bit of disagreement about how to interpret the various theories, with some string theorists supporting a semi-deterministic worldview a la Einstein (God does not play dice), while others believe our universe is just one possibility among many, with respect to various physical parameters."

Comments

Re:String theory 101

[InvaderXimian]

Captain Obvious to the rescue!

Re:direct link

[TMB]

Here's a little piece of javascript you can save as a bookmark that automatically fills out the registration form with random junk (modified by me based on code by Jason Day found on www.majcher.com:

javascript:function getString(len){var chars=new Array('a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k', 'l','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x ','y','z','A','B','C','D','E','F','G','H','I','J', 'K','L','M','N','O','P','Q','R','S','T','U','V','W ','X','Y','Z','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9', '0');var str=chars[Math.floor(Math.random()*52)];for(var i=1;i<len;i++){ str=str+chars[Math.floor(Math.random()*62)]}return str}function getDigits(len){var chars=new Array('0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9');var str=chars[Math.floor(Math.random()*10)];for(var i=1;i<len;i++){ str=str+chars[Math.floor(Math.random()*10)]}return str}function setFields(){var idx,F=document.forms;for(var i=0;i<F.length;i++){ if(F[i].action.toUpperCase().indexOf('REGI')!=-1){ idx=i;break}}var login=getString(Math.floor(Math.random()*8)+6);var passw=getString(8);var email=getString(Math.floor(Math.random()*4)+12)+ '@'+getString(Math.floor(Math.random()*5)+4)+ '.com';document.forms[idx].login.value=login; document.forms[idx].passwd1.value=passw; document.forms[idx].passwd2.value=passw; document.forms[idx].email.value=email; document.forms[idx].saveoption_check.checked=false ; if(Math.random()>0.5){ document.forms[idx].gender_check[0].checked=true} else{ document.forms[idx].gender_check[1].checked=true} document.forms[idx].zip.value=getDigits(5); document.forms[idx].birth_year.value= Math.floor(Math.random()*70)+20; document.forms[idx].country.options[ Math.floor(Math.random()*238)].selected=true; document.forms[idx].income_select.options[ Math.floor(Math.random()*10)+1].selected=true; document.forms[idx].industry_select.options[ Math.floor(Math.random()*36)+1].selected=true; document.forms[idx].title_select.options[ Math.floor(Math.random()*36)+1].selected=true; document.forms[idx].function_select.options[ Math.floor(Math.random()*16)+1].selected=true; document.forms[idx].paper_select.options[ Math.floor(Math.random()*4)+1].selected=true} setFields();void(null)

[TMB]

Re:Fringe science, or valid?

[charon_on_acheron]

"1) If I shoot sillystring at the hot blonde across the room, will she sleep with me, or slap me?"

Reminds me of a day at Hooters a few years back. Two kids were running around the restaurant, having a fun time. I think they were a boy about 10, and his sister who was 8, give or take a year each. They ran up to one of the waitresses, and the sister wanted to have her picture taken with her. So the two get next to each other, and the brother has the camera. When he pushes the button, silly string shoots out, all over the waitress' cleavage. The waitress never stopped smiling, but I'm sure she wanted to strangle him. I thought it was hilarious, myself.

About gods and dices

[ja]

Why do everybody (or every second) have to get the concept of a god intermingled with nuclear science?

It is not like we are running for president, so get over it!

mvh // Jens MAndreasen