Columnist Natalie Wolchover examines the latest developments in the “forever war” over whether string theory can describe the world.

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. String theory captured the hearts and minds of many physicists decades ago because of a beautiful simplicity. Zoom in far enough on a ...

Children frequently trouble their parents with questions such as: "What is space?" "What is the world made of?" "Can time travel backwards?" "How fast can the fastest thing go?" People who never grow ...

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At the turn of the century, it sounded as if string theory could give us big answers about the universe. Well… has it? String theorists, this one may be for you. The theorized object warps spacetime ...

My latest NotebookLM podcast creation is deeper and more fascinating than anything I've ever created, and I bet it'll shock you, too. I don't understand string theory. In fact, I bet there's fewer ...

In 1998, astronomers discovered dark energy. The finding, which transformed our conception of the cosmos, came with a little-known consequence: It threw a wrench into the already daunting task of ...