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Hawking: No 'Theory of Everything'

Flash Modin writes "In a Scientific American essay based on their new book A Grand Design, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow are now claiming physicists may never find a theory of everything. Instead, they propose a 'family of interconnected theories' might emerge, with each describing a certain reality under specific conditions. The claim is a reversal for Hawking, who claimed in 1980 that there would be a unified theory by the turn of the century."

21 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. Tsk tsk! by bigspring · · Score: 1, Funny

    What a flip-flopper! This guy would make an awful president. Bush/Cheney 2004!

  2. Oblig by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Funny
    1. Re:Oblig by blair1q · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, it's no longer necessary to actually link to xkcd from /.

      Just mention the number.

      We'll laugh just as hard.

    2. Re:Oblig by jewens · · Score: 4, Funny

      Some people just don't know how to tell a joke.

      --
      That group of bovine standing over there appears quite portentous. That's right it's an ominous cow herd.
    3. Re:Oblig by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bonus points if your uid is funny.

  3. unified theory by the turn of the century by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The claim is a reversal for Hawking, who claimed in 1980 that there would be a unified theory by the turn of the century."

    I think the turn of the century reversed his claim for him.

    1. Re:unified theory by the turn of the century by dkleinsc · · Score: 2, Funny

      It depends how fast he was moving relative to the calendar he was referring to.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  4. Re:Past His Prime by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Funny

    It seems like he's been saying stuff recently just to say stuff.

    Totally. He just likes to hear his own voice.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  5. Excuse me, Dr. Hawking? by Theory+of+Everything · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm right here. I promise I do exist. Really.

    1. Re:Excuse me, Dr. Hawking? by neo-mkrey · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm torn -- do I give you +1 Funny or +1 Informative?? Ooops, seeing as I have now posted, you will get neither.

    2. Re:Excuse me, Dr. Hawking? by toddles666 · · Score: 2, Funny

      My mind would have been blown if his UUID was 42...

  6. Re:Celebrity physicist troll train by guyminuslife · · Score: 3, Funny

    String Theory says there is.

    --
    I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
  7. Re:Celebrity physicist troll train by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's about time they rethink this artificial theoretical/experimental barrier if all the "theories" being cooked up are so far out of the realm of verification that they might as well move to philosophy department.

    Maybe they should call themselves theoretical metaphysicists....

    --
    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
  8. Re:Past His Prime by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just invent a one-way time machine. Then you could mate with all the women you wanted when men become scarce (after the giraffes have long since ceased to rule the planet) then move forward in time, wait for the last photon to decay, see the Big Bang take place, take a potshot at Hitler and as the current time approaches, slow down enough to see the comments appearing, wait for someone else to make the joke then mod them up!

    Of course you have to hope this universe isn't 10' higher than the previous universe.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  9. In other news... by djupedal · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Theory of Everything held a press conference today, stating "There is no Stephen Hawking."

    When asked what the implications were as to whether or not there could ever be a Stephen Hawking, ToE replied "The door is open for a Stephen Hawking in the future, but it can only be a possibility if graphene birds fly out of my lily white butt..."

  10. Re:Celebrity physicist troll train by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's about time they rethink this artificial theoretical/experimental barrier if all the "theories" being cooked up are so far out of the realm of verification that they might as well move to philosophy department.

    I mean, it wouldn't it be surprising if they were given advanced degrees like "Doctor of Philosophy" or something like that?

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  11. Re:Past His Prime by mcgrew · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, wikipedia didn't list his papers.

  12. What about Dr. Cooper's work? by JAZ · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've been watching documentaries about Dr Sheldon Cooper's work out at Caltech and I'm lead to believe that he's very close to proving String Theory as a Grand Unified Theory.

    Surely, Professor Hawking is aware of this research?

    --


    "Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -- Homer Simpson
  13. Re:Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    no

  14. Re:Wisdom from DS9 by guyminuslife · · Score: 2, Funny

    See, I knew I could get someone to help me with my homework!

    --
    I don't believe in time. It's a grand conspiracy designed to sell watches.
  15. UUID maths by josh+washington · · Score: 2, Funny

    Theory of Everything ( 696787 )

    My mind would have been blown if his UUID was 42...

    You may be onto something – adding each digit in his UUID (6 + 9 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 7) yields 43...

    Of course, maybe it only equals 43 to us because of approximations in our generalised equations, but for him using his localised maths it's actually 42?