Whatever Happened to String Theory?

Gizmodo reports:

Whatever Happened to String Theory?

At the turn of the century, it sounded as if string theory could give us big answers about the universe. Well… has it?

Believe it or not, physicists want to keep it simple. That’s why many scientists, including Albert Einstein, believe physics could eventually converge into a single, overarching paradigm that describes the universe — a theory of everything.

It was always a foolish belief. Especially Einstein's version of it. Anyone looking for a "paradigm" is not doing science.

Enter string theory. Very broadly speaking, string theory is a mathematical framework that replaces point-like particles with one-dimensional “strings” as the fundamental building blocks of matter. It was initially proposed as an explanation for a different phenomenon but quickly caught the attention of physicists working to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity—two extremely successful, equally valid theories that notoriously don’t get along.

Everybody says those theories conflict, but there is no problem as they apply to anything observable.

Then followed two “superstring revolutions,” which saw impressive strides in mapping out the details of how string theory could capture the complexity of our universe. The fervor of string theory naturally leaked over to popular conversations—science enthusiasts of the 1990s and 2000s, I’m looking at you—producing famous documentaries such as PBS’s The Elegant Universe and a trove of popular and academic books.

The word "revolution" is another tipoff that science is not being done.

The article requested comments from experts, and got a variety of opinions.

I say that string theory was trying to solve a problem that did not exist. It was a mathematical exercise with no relation to science.

In twenty years, I look forward to articles on what happened to quantum computing, quantum cryptography, teleportation, and other trendy topics of today.