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When you pop 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: a piece of cheese into your mouth, you're probably not 11 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: thinking about the environmental impact. But the people in the 12 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: dairy industry are. That's why they're working hard every day 13 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: to find new ways to reduce waste, conserve natural resources, 14 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. How is US Dairy 15 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: tackling greenhouse gases? Many farms use anaerobic digesters to turn 16 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: the methane from manure into renewable energy that can power farms, towns, 17 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: and electric cars. Visit us dairy dot COM's Last Sustainability 18 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: to learn more. 19 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 2: During friends and families walking, riding on passing the roads 20 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 2: every day. Remember they're real people with loved ones who 21 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 2: need them to. 22 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: Get home safely. 23 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 2: Protect our cyclists and pedestrians because they're people too, Go safely. 24 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 2: California from the California Office of Traffic Safety and Caltrans. 25 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: One thing that I really love about physics is that 26 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: sometimes the laws of physics don't just work, they're actually 27 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: pretty great. 28 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 3: What do you mean physics can be pretty You know? 29 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 3: I thought physics and science was like a hard hitting 30 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 3: objective thing, you know, human endeavor. 31 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 1: Absolutely, we got big tasks. We want to understand the 32 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: universe and makes sense of it. But sometimes we come 33 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: up with an idea, something that just looks beautiful, something 34 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: which is has an innate elegance to it. 35 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 3: You mean, like you'd see a theory walking down the 36 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 3: road and you'd be like, oh, man, that that theory 37 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 3: hasn't going on. 38 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some sexy curves in that theory. 39 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 3: You mean like graphs though, right, like that. 40 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: That kind of curves, right, that graph has a nice 41 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: curve too, look at those peaks. And one of the 42 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: most controversial theories of all time, one of the ones 43 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: that gets people up in arms, is also one that's 44 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: probably survived because it's so beautiful and elegant. 45 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 3: Is it the theory of attraction? 46 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,519 Speaker 1: No, it's a theory that was once described as a 47 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: piece of twenty first century physics that had fallen by 48 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,399 Speaker 1: accident into the twentieth century. 49 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 3: So it's a future. 50 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,079 Speaker 1: Babe, future babe exactly. 51 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 3: Hi. I'm Jorge. 52 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: I'm a cartoonist, and I'm Daniel. I'm a particle physicist. 53 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 3: And we are the authors of the book We Have 54 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 3: No Idea. 55 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: Which talks about all the things we don't know about 56 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: the universe and how we might hope to one day 57 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 1: understand them. 58 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 3: Yeah, So welcome to our podcast Daniel and Jorge explain 59 00:02:58,520 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 3: the Universe, in. 60 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: Which we take everything and anything in the universe and 61 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: try to explain it to you in a way that 62 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: makes sense and hopefully makes you laugh to be. 63 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 3: On the program. We're going to talk about string theory. 64 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: That's right, string theory. And this is a question that 65 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: we've been getting from listeners. We ask people please send 66 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: in your requests for topics, and maybe more than fifty 67 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: percent of the request work. Can you explain string theory? 68 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: What is string theory? Talk about string. 69 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 3: Theory more than fifty percent, Yeah. 70 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: And it's fascinating, it's because string theory really is a 71 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: part of the sort of cultural zeitgeist. It's like an 72 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: idea that people know exists, even if they don't understand it. 73 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 3: But it's a big part of that show, The Big 74 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 3: Bang Theory, right, Like the people in that show they 75 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 3: supposedly study string theory. 76 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't watch that. 77 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 3: Show me neither, but that's what I've been told. 78 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: Your cultural advice expert has told you, yeah, that this 79 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: is a cultural relevant thing. Well, yeah, it's it's something 80 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: people have heard about. Well have you heard about string 81 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: theory before you started spending your time talking to physicists. 82 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, I'd heard about it. You know, it's one 83 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 3: of these things that you hear a lot about. It's 84 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 3: these like crazy theory about the universe, but it's really 85 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 3: and you know, you hear certain things about it, like, oh, 86 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 3: everything is made out of strings, but you don't really 87 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 3: kind of know what it is and what does it 88 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 3: mean for things to be strings. 89 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: You're a very visual person. What image do you get 90 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: in your head if I tell you everything is made 91 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: out of strings? Do you get like a universe an 92 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: idea of like a universe where everything is crocheted out 93 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,239 Speaker 1: of yarn? Or how does it work in your head? 94 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 3: I would just ask what are those strings made out of? 95 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: Right? Right? Of course, so you are a physicist at Hard, right, 96 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: because every question just leads to the next question. 97 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 3: That's right, Yeah, beautiful physicists at hard supermodel on the outside. 98 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: No comment, But I thought it was an interesting question 99 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: to tackle because it's something everybody's heard about, but very 100 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: few people actually understand. I think that's why people wanted 101 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: us to talk about it. Say that, can you make 102 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: this not just something we've heard this phrase, but something 103 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: where we can know what it means and get some 104 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: insight into why people are spending their time doing it? Damn. 105 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 3: So, as usual, we went out into the street and ask, 106 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 3: do you know what string theory is? 107 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, So before you hear these answers, think for a moment, 108 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: could you define string theory? Do you know what it 109 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: is and why it's persisted for so long? Here's what 110 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: people who I asked had to say. 111 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 3: No, I have no idea what that is. No, I 112 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 3: do not I've heard of it. My only way of 113 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 3: Big bang theory? 114 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: Okay, awesome, I don't know. I'm sorry. 115 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 4: Trying to measure the connectedness of Adams and sub atomic particles, 116 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 4: I believe. 117 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: Okay, it's something that Sheldon worked on big bank theory. 118 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 3: Yes, okay. So first of all, it's kind of interesting 119 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 3: because you normally you go out into your university campus 120 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 3: to ask people, but this time you went somewhere different. 121 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. You see, Irvine was closed for a holiday, 122 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,479 Speaker 1: so instead I went to the mall here at Irvine, 123 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: the Spectrum, and I asked a bunch of random strangers 124 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: questions about science. And again I was struck by how 125 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: many people were willing to answer my questions. I thought 126 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 1: people would say, who are you? Go away security security? Right? 127 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 3: Maybe they sense a certain beauty about you, Daniel, You're like, 128 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 3: who is this beautiful as the specimen of a person? 129 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 5: No? 130 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:09,600 Speaker 1: Who is it? I said? Apparently I just don't look 131 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: very threatening, you know, I look like I could get 132 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 1: knocked over with just a passing breeze or something. Uh huh. 133 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: So everybody was willing to engage, which was awesome, and 134 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: people had some pretty fun ideas, and everybody had heard 135 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: of it. Nobody had said huh what, And your other 136 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 1: speculation was correct. Some people had heard of string theory specifically, 137 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,039 Speaker 1: because of the Big Bang theory. So thank you Big 138 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: Bang Theory. You've mined all this juice from nerd culture 139 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: and you have actually communicated something to the public. So congratulations. 140 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: Nobody understands what string theory is, but they do understand 141 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: that it is a theory. 142 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 3: Well, I think that show doesn't even try to explain it, right, 143 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 3: They almost use it for the opposite effect, Like, let's 144 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 3: depict our character as this impenetrable, unrelatable genius that speaks gobblygoog, 145 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 3: So we'll just haven't talk about string theory that nobody 146 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 3: and nobody's going to understand that. 147 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: So it's like, so you're saying string theory represents the 148 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: impenetrability of physics. I think it's more important to explain 149 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: these things to people rather than just toss these words 150 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: around and try to intimidate people. 151 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 3: So yeah, I think that's what I mean. It's like 152 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 3: they use it to intimidate people about physics. 153 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, when physics is nothing but warm and cuddly and 154 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: just wants to explain the universe to you. Man, there's 155 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: nothing intimidating about physics, right, It's about revealing secrets and 156 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: giving understanding and inside and appreciating beauty. And that's the 157 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: thing about string theory is it doesn't just potentially explain 158 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: a lot of things. It also offers some elegance, some gorgeousness, 159 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: like a peak into what nature is doing underneath. Because 160 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: you know, you can have ugly theories and you can 161 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: have elegant theories. You know, you might ask the difference, 162 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: like how what is the difference? Yeah, I can ask 163 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: you the same question about art, right, Like I look 164 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: at a Kandinsky and I say, hey, that's beautiful, and 165 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: somebody else says, whatever, I could do that in an afternoon. 166 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: It's garbage. It's subjective, right, you can't. It's like the 167 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: whole question of what is beauty something that's very difficult 168 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: to nail down, right, So you shouldn't judge of painting 169 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: by the same metric used to judge of physics theory. 170 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: And you know, two physicists can disagree about what theory 171 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: is pretty and what theory is ugly. So it's it's 172 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: totally subjective. It's not an objective like. 173 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 3: A fetish, like a you know, I like this kind 174 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 3: of theory, I like that kind of theory. 175 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, I like you know, I like theories with handcuffs 176 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: in them instead of strings. Right, my handcuff theory of 177 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: the universe. That's where that's where you're going. 178 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 3: Theories or you know. Okay, So let's break it down 179 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 3: for people. What is string theory? 180 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: Right? So string theory is basically is the idea that 181 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: the smallest elements of matter, the things that things are 182 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: made out of, are not points, not particles, but instead 183 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 1: they're lines, their strings, strings of what strings of basic 184 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: universes stuff? 185 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 3: Right, So, like the electron is not like a little ball. 186 00:08:57,960 --> 00:08:59,719 Speaker 3: We know, it's like a quantum object, which is like 187 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,079 Speaker 3: a point point with some kind of probability. But you're 188 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 3: saying if you zoom in even more, maybe you would 189 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 3: see a little squiggle there. 190 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,199 Speaker 1: Yeah, And there's sort of two ideas there. One is 191 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: what is the most basic element? And the second is 192 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: is there a most basic element? So this assumes that 193 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: there is a most basic element. You know that you 194 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: look at something next to you, pick up in the 195 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: nearest object you have, you know, maybe it's an apple, 196 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: maybe it's a platypus, maybe it's a you know, I 197 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: don't know what, and think about what it's made out. 198 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: If it's made of molecules, right, tear those apart, you 199 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: get atoms. Tear those atoms apart, you get protons and neutrons, electrons, 200 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:32,839 Speaker 1: tear those apart, you get quarks. Right, and you could 201 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: keep going and eventually you get to smaller and smaller particles. Right. 202 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: The question is do you ever get to the smallest particle? Right? 203 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: That's one question? Is there a smallest thing? And we 204 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: covered that in a whole podcast, but here we're just 205 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: going to assume that there is. Right, at some point 206 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: you get down the most basic thing where you're not 207 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: allowed to ask what it's made out of because it's 208 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: made out of the most basic universe stuff. 209 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 3: It's like the one circle on a lego set. It's 210 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 3: like you can get any smaller. 211 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: Than that, Right, it's the unit exactly, And that you 212 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:05,199 Speaker 1: might feel like that, well, that's frustrating. Why can't I 213 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: ask what it's made out of? You know? But it's 214 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: also not frustrating because it would be the answer. I mean, 215 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: if you actually got there and you said, look, everything 216 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: in the universe is made out of this one basic thing. 217 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: That's a deep insight. Right, that's what we're going for. 218 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: That's the day we wish for that we peel back 219 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: a layer of reality and see, ah, everything is made 220 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: out of this thing, because then you can ask why 221 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: this thing? What does that mean? Oh? I see? 222 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 3: So string theory is saying that everything electrons. Course, eventually, 223 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 3: if you break them down, you'll get to this one 224 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 3: type of string. 225 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,320 Speaker 1: That's right. We think of things being made of particles. 226 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: We think of them as tiny dots right in space. 227 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: But string theory says they're not dots, they're lines, okay, 228 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: And there are these loops and wiggles instead of being dots. 229 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: And then everything is made out of these strings. And 230 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: you might ask, well, how can you get different kinds 231 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: of particles, for example, out of one kind of string? Right? 232 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: And the idea there is that this strings can vibrate, 233 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: The strings can wiggle, right, the reverberations in the string 234 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: just like you know a rubber band or a string. 235 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 3: Is it like an actual vibration like it goes up 236 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 3: and down? Or is it just like the different shapes 237 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:13,440 Speaker 3: you can make with a string. 238 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: Oh I see, No, it's actual motion of the string. Yeah, 239 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: And so it's diff different vibrational modes. Yes, So they 240 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: get excited and they can get to this state or 241 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: that state. As the string vibrates in different ways, it 242 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 1: makes different particles. So some tiny particle calling it said 243 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: an electron, for example, is actually a string vibrating this way, 244 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: and quark is a string vibrating the other way, and 245 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: a nutrino is a string vibrating a third way. So 246 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: the same thing with different vibrations can appear as different particles. 247 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 3: Oh okay, So it's not like different strings and a guitar. 248 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 3: That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about one string. 249 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 3: It's like a one string guitar, and just the different 250 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 3: ways in which it can vibrate that gives rise to 251 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 3: all the different stuff we see in the universe exactly. 252 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,439 Speaker 1: And like a guitar, can pluck the string differently and 253 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: you can get different notes, right, you can based on 254 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,839 Speaker 1: how fast it's vibrating, and you know where you put 255 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: your finger in the end, you can get different notes 256 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:10,719 Speaker 1: out of the same string. And it's key here that 257 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: it's one string, right, it's a single string. Because we're 258 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: trying to explain everything in the universe in terms of 259 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: one object. So we're trying to explain how you get 260 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,679 Speaker 1: all this complexity in terms of one thing. And that's 261 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: the answer from string theory, is that the string has 262 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: different modes to it. The string can do different things, right, 263 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: And you know, you might think that that's sort of weird, 264 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: Like I expect stuff, if it's all made of the 265 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: same thing, to be the same thing, right, Like if 266 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: everything is made of the same stuff, why is this 267 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: red and that blue? And this tastes delicious and this 268 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,439 Speaker 1: tastes terrible, right, right? And it comes from the way 269 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: it's vibrating. It's kind of like maybe light. You know, 270 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: light is just made out of one thing, photons, but 271 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,280 Speaker 1: depending on the frequency, then it's different colors. Yeah, exactly. 272 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: And the way things move and vibrate it can totally 273 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: affect the way we perceive them. You know, think about 274 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: for example, water, Right, water is made out of water molecules. 275 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: So is ice, and so is steam. Right, they're made 276 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: out of the same thing, but we feel them, we 277 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: experience them very differently because of the way they're moving. Right. 278 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: Steam and liquid water have the water particles moving more 279 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: than in ice, right, And so it's the motion of 280 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: those particles that generates the macroscopic qualities that we use 281 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: to define it. So the things we used to define 282 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: the electron, and things we used to define a quark 283 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: actually come just from the vibrations of these strings again 284 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: according to this theory. 285 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 3: Okay, so then, but then my question is still what 286 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 3: are these strings made? Is it just like made out 287 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:34,079 Speaker 3: of universe? 288 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: I told you, Jorge, you're not less to ask once 289 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: we get down to the lowest level, no more questions. 290 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 3: No, but do you know what I mean? Like is 291 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 3: it like a like a physical string or just like 292 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 3: a mathematical string? Do you know what I mean? 293 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 1: Like? Is now ooh, prepare for a philosophical detour here, like. 294 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 3: What's actually vibrating like universe stuff? 295 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,719 Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, well, because I still look in the end, 296 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: all physics theories are just models. Right, you can ask 297 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: the question is is really happening or is this just 298 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: a mathematical model in my head? I use to do 299 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: calculations and predict the results of experiments. Okay, boom. That 300 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,199 Speaker 1: is a big philosophical question, right, and there's no way 301 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: to answer that. So we think of these things as 302 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: models in our head reflect reality. Okay, you know the 303 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 1: top quark, does it exist or not? Or is it 304 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: just a calculation model in my head? We could you know, 305 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: smoke banana peels and talk about that for a long 306 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: time without making any progress. 307 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 3: So this model is just asking me to imagine that 308 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 3: the most fundamental thing in the universe are these little strings. 309 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 3: They can vibrate in different ways. But then these strings 310 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 3: can move around. 311 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: And they can't be cut into pieces. Right, you can't 312 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: get anything smaller than a string. It's the most basic unit. 313 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 3: Oh, like, there's something about the stuff of the universe 314 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 3: that is just you can't vibrate or do things shorter 315 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 3: than these little strings. 316 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Well I think about it from the other direction. 317 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: You know, how do you make a universe? Well, you 318 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: start with a huge pile of tiny strings, and then 319 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: the way those strings interact it gives you all sorts 320 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: of interesting structure. But that's what you start art from, right, 321 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: that's the universe's initial condition is like a huge pile 322 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: of strings. 323 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 3: And these strings can move around space. 324 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, they move and they interact with each other, right, 325 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: and that's where all the interesting stuff. 326 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 3: But are these related to like quantum fields? How does 327 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 3: that relate quantum fields? 328 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: Yeah? So everything we'd be built out of these strings, 329 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: including all the particles and all the forces, and that's 330 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: actually why string theory is so popular because string theory, 331 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: we think, can explain some of the mysteries of quantum 332 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: fields and some of the mysteries of how to bring 333 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: gravity into the fold and describe it in terms of 334 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 1: a quantum field. So the short answer to your question is, 335 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: all the quantum fields arise from these string interactions. Mmmm. 336 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 3: All these fields, all these particles just come from this 337 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 3: one string guitar being plugged at different frequencies. 338 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: That's right. So while you're imagining a single string guitar 339 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: of the universe, let's take a quick break. With big 340 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: wireless providers. What you see is never what you get. 341 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: Somewhere between the store and your first month's build price, 342 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: the thoughts you we're paying magically skyrockets. With mint Mobile, 343 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: you'll never have to worry about gotcha's ever again. 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But let's assume that that's the theory. Who 390 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 3: came up with this and why do we think it's 391 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 3: a good theory about the universe? 392 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: Yes, so string theories had a lot of people contribute 393 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 1: to it. It's sort of an old theory that started 394 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: out trying to explain something else and then was tossed 395 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: aside when it didn't work, and then was later picked 396 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: up again and reused to as a theory of everything. 397 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: And this sort of idea of string theory is to 398 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: take a different approach to solving this question of what 399 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: is the universe made out of? As an experimentalist, my 400 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 1: approach is take something concrete, break it into pieces, get 401 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: smaller and smaller and smaller. You know, as you discover 402 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: new stuff, you're revealing secrets of the universe, and just 403 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 1: keep going until you get to the smallest bit, sort 404 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: of via top down approach. Right, this idea is different. 405 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: This is sort of a bottom up They say, let's 406 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: just start at the very bottom. Let's go to the 407 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: most basic element and try to explain the universe from 408 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,880 Speaker 1: the start. You know, if a hypothesize the universes made 409 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 1: of strings, can we put them together in a way 410 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: that explains the universe and describe everything we see around us. 411 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,359 Speaker 3: But I guess, how did someone even think of using strings? 412 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 3: How do you make a lot of things out of 413 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 3: one thing? And a little string that vibrates different ways 414 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,920 Speaker 3: is one way to get a lot of things out 415 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 3: of one simple thing? Is that kind of the origins 416 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 3: of it? 417 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:54,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, you should imagine. Physicists are basically random, terrible 418 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,640 Speaker 1: idea generators, okay, and most of those just don't work. 419 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,199 Speaker 1: So at some point somebody is like fed up with 420 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,680 Speaker 1: thinking about the universe in terms of particles, and they're like, well, 421 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: what if they're not you know, what if they're not dots? 422 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: Let's just try it with lines. Does that work? You know? 423 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: And basically every idea that you can imagine, somebody has 424 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: tried to make that work as a theory of everything 425 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,239 Speaker 1: and usually given up after about two seconds because the 426 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,959 Speaker 1: theory of everything based out of little puppies or whatever 427 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: doesn't work. It's very hard to make that put together. 428 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 3: But like they said, what if there's just one particle 429 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 3: that makes up everything, how would you explain how this 430 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 3: one particle can turn into other things? And so that's 431 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 3: kind of difficult maybe, but a string, you can imagine 432 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 3: it vibrating or moving in different ways to give rise 433 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 3: to different particles. 434 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: Right, yeah, exactly. And people were playing with it and 435 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 1: they're like, what can we do with this? And they tried, 436 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,159 Speaker 1: Like I said, they try to use it to solve 437 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,959 Speaker 1: other problems. Specifically, they try to understand the strong nuclear 438 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: force using strings, and it didn't work. And then later 439 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: somebody else said, huh, I heard about this idea of strings. 440 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: I wonder if I can use that to solve this 441 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: other problem, which is why can't we get gravity to 442 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 1: play well with the other forces. You know, if you 443 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: want to understand the way the universe works, you have 444 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 1: to try to explain everything in terms of one theory, right, 445 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 1: to bring it all together into a single explanation. 446 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 3: Because that's a big problem right now in physics. Right, 447 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 3: it's like marrying quantum physics with gravity. 448 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: That's right, It's a marriage we've been trying to arrange forever, 449 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: but to participants just do not want to person do 450 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:18,479 Speaker 1: not want to play along, exactly. 451 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:20,199 Speaker 3: They don't like pressure. 452 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: Yes, so we have these sort of two towering achievements 453 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: of physics. On one hand, quantum mechanics, right, a revelation 454 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: about one hundred years old. That tells us that the 455 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,479 Speaker 1: universe is very different from the way we thought it was. 456 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: That there's uncertainties, that there's fuzziness, a limited amount of 457 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: knowledge we can actually obtain about the universe. And it's 458 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: most specifically that the universe is quantized. It's broken up 459 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 1: into discrete little chunks. Right. And on the other hand, 460 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: we have gravity and general relativity, which is an incredibly 461 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: successful theory that describes the motion of planets around stars 462 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: and black holes and all sorts of crazy stuff and 463 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,400 Speaker 1: time dilation in the way space and time are connected, 464 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,199 Speaker 1: all this incredible stuff. But it assumes the universe is 465 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,679 Speaker 1: not quantum mechanical, right. It assumes that that energy can 466 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: be subdivided into arbitrarily small bits, and that you can 467 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: have an infinite number of locations and an infinite amount 468 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: of information. Right. And so the two theories are not consistent, 469 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: and most of the time they're talking about different stuff, 470 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 1: so they don't overlap. Sometimes, like when you're talking about 471 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: a black hole, then the two give you very different stories. 472 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 3: Okay, so how is string theory able to marry gravity 473 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 3: and quantum mechanics? 474 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: Right, So that is exactly the right question, how does 475 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: string theory allow us to bring together quantum mechanics and gravity. 476 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: Well to understand that, you really have to understand why 477 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: we failed without string theory. And the problem is that 478 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: when you bring together quantum mechanics and gravity, you get 479 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: lots of infinities. Right A theory doesn't work when it 480 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,640 Speaker 1: can't predict the results of experiments. So if you ask 481 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: a theory what happens when I smash two particles together, 482 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: it should give you a reasonable answer. If the answer 483 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:58,359 Speaker 1: is infinity, or you know, nothing will happen or something, 484 00:22:58,520 --> 00:22:59,959 Speaker 1: then it doesn't make any sense. It has to get 485 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: physical answers, and infinity is not a physical answer. The 486 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: problem is when you try to bring gravity into quantum mechanics, 487 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: you get lots of these infinities. And the infinities come 488 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: because of the point particles, because you're trying to treat 489 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: these objects as if they're just dots in space, and 490 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: that leads to lots of craziness. You know, how do 491 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: you have mass in a tiny little dot in space 492 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: that has infinite density? Right now, we have lots of 493 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: other theories that do play well with quantum mechanics. Electromagnetism, 494 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: for example, very happily married with quantum mechanics. And the 495 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 1: reason that works is that we have tricks to hide 496 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 1: those infinities. We can bundle up those infinities that pop 497 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,159 Speaker 1: up from the point particles in various other ways mathematical tricks. 498 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: Those tricks don't work for gravity because gravity is very 499 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,200 Speaker 1: different from the other forces. The strength of the force 500 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,399 Speaker 1: grows with the energy of the object, right, So in 501 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: this case, when an object has more and more energy, 502 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,080 Speaker 1: it feels more and more gravity, right, because gravity is 503 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 1: proportional as the amount of energy in an object. So 504 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: the typical tricks we use to hide those infinities under 505 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 1: the rug that works for quantum electrodynamics doesn't work for 506 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 1: gravity when we try to do quantum gravity. So how 507 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 1: does string theory to solve that problem? Simple? It just 508 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: says there are no points. It says, at the smallest scale, 509 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about dealing with gravity tiny 510 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 1: points because there are none. Because that it's smallest scale. 511 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: The universe is not made of points but strings, and 512 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: so it's a nice way to sort of circumvent that problem. 513 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: And that's why string theory can bring together quantum mechanics 514 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: and gravity so nicely and that got people excited, and 515 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: that's where the beauty was. People were like, wow, and 516 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: it's beautiful. There's like these strings floating around and you 517 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: get these membranes, and it seemed really cool to people. 518 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 3: So you said something interesting, which was it? People thought 519 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 3: that string theory was beautiful and elegant. So can you 520 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 3: try to explain like why people thought that, Like is 521 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 3: it simple or is it just it's so open ended 522 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:55,639 Speaker 3: or it just seems to be working or it doesn't 523 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 3: fall into the ugliness of other theories. 524 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: I think people just have fun working with it, you know. 525 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: I think it's I think it stimulates people's imaginations can 526 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:06,679 Speaker 1: have fun, and physicists can have fun. Yeah, And you know, 527 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,719 Speaker 1: when you do string theory, you write down these diagrams 528 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: and instead of these diagrams being lines with Swiggs, the 529 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: diagrams are like loops and they have sheets and to 530 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: connect them, you know, membranes, and you get to think 531 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 1: about these high dimensional surfaces and people have a lot 532 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 1: of fun with them, and it's been so invigorating for physicists. 533 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 1: That's actually led to a lot of good results just 534 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: in mathematics, Like mathematicians have learned about things from the 535 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: things the physicists have done while exploring its string theory. Wow, 536 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,680 Speaker 1: and so it's stimulated the whole field of mathematics. And 537 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: you know, mathematics is about the beauty and interconnectedness of numbers. 538 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:44,679 Speaker 1: They don't care if it actually describes anything in the 539 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,639 Speaker 1: real world, right, it's about these abstract ideas and how 540 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: they come together. And one of the lead physicists who 541 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: works on string theory is name is Ed Witten. He 542 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: won what's basically the Nobel Prize for math, which is 543 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: the field metal, which is even harder to win than 544 00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: the Nobel Prize because they only give it every two years. 545 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: And he's a physicist, and he won the top prize 546 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: in mathematics for advances in string theory, which tells you 547 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: that there's a huge amount of mathematical machinery that's been 548 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: invented here. And these folks they love it like it's 549 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: fascination for them. It's a there's a deep pleasure in 550 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: manipulating these equations and in thinking about it. 551 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,719 Speaker 3: Oh, usually it's the other way around, Like usually you 552 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 3: guys have to come over the theory and convince mathematicians 553 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 3: that this is something fundamental. Yeah, here it seems to 554 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 3: be coming from the other way. It's like, here's something 555 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 3: that even mathematicians think might be fundamental about the universe. 556 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: Well, I don't know if mathematicians think it's fundamental about 557 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: the universe. They just think it helps solve interesting problems. 558 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:41,920 Speaker 1: They're like, ooh, this is a cool tool. It can 559 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:43,600 Speaker 1: solve some problems in math, or it gives us a 560 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: new way to think about mathematical problems. You know, and 561 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: anytime you get a new tool, it's fascinating. And you imagine, 562 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: for example, you're an artist and somebody invents a new 563 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: musical instrument and you're like, ooh cool, what can I 564 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:55,919 Speaker 1: use this for? I can invent a new kind of music. 565 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: I can I have a new kind of rhythm or 566 00:26:57,760 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: a new kind of song. Or in the same way, 567 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,399 Speaker 1: you create a new physics theory, a new basic object 568 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,880 Speaker 1: get to play with. It's exciting. It gives you things 569 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:06,639 Speaker 1: to play with and ideas to try. 570 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:10,359 Speaker 3: And so like physicists said, hey, look, I have a 571 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,200 Speaker 3: one string guitar, and theses were. 572 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: Like, whoa, I can play the whole universe and that thing. 573 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: But you know, string theory has a lot of people 574 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: who love it and adherents, and a lot of people 575 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: in departments who are working on it. But there are 576 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 1: also a lot of people who don't like string theory. 577 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: It's got sort of a backlash as well. Any part 578 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: you know you've made it as a physics theory when 579 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: you have haters, right. 580 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 3: Oh, physics haters. All right, let's get into it, But first, 581 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 3: let's take a quick break. 582 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:44,200 Speaker 1: When you pop a piece of cheese into your mouth 583 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: or enjoy a rich spoonful of Greek yogurt, you're probably 584 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: not thinking about the environmental impact of each and every bite. 585 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: But the people in the dairy industry are. US Dairy 586 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 1: has set themselves some ambitious sustainability goals, including being greenhouse 587 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,400 Speaker 1: gas neutral by twenty five. That's why they're working hard 588 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,919 Speaker 1: every day to find new ways to reduce waste, conserve 589 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: natural resources, and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. Take water, 590 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 1: for example, most dairy farms reuse water up to four times. 591 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 1: The same water cools the milk, cleans equipment, washes the barn, 592 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 1: and irrigates the crops. How is US dairy tackling greenhouse gases? 593 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,720 Speaker 1: Many farms use anaerobic digestors that turn the methane from 594 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,119 Speaker 1: maneuver into renewable energy that can power farms, towns, and 595 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,400 Speaker 1: electric cars. So the next time you grab a slice 596 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: of pizza or lick an ice cream cone, know that 597 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: dairy farmers and processors around the country are using the 598 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:35,879 Speaker 1: latest practices and innovations to provide the nutrient dense dairy 599 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: products we love with less of an impact. Visit us 600 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: dairy dot com slash sustainability to learn more. 601 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 2: There are children, friends, and families walking, riding on passing 602 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 2: the roads every day. Remember they're real people with loved 603 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 2: ones who need them to get home safely. Protect our 604 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 2: cyclists and pedestrians because they're people too. 605 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 1: Go safely. 606 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 2: California from the California Office of Traffic Safety and Caltrans. 607 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 6: Want the secret to your best skin yet, I've been 608 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 6: getting a ton of compliments on my skin lately. In 609 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 6: the secret Biosance, this award winning skincare brand known for 610 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,960 Speaker 6: its science backed formulas, has been a game changer for me. 611 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 6: The best my skin has ever looked is right after 612 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 6: I started using these two holy grails, the biosons Omega 613 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 6: Repair moisturizing cream and Marine Algai Cream. 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Are you ready for your best skin ever? 621 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 6: Head tobiosons dot com and discover your next skincare obsession. 622 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,719 Speaker 6: And by the way, use code pod that's pod at 623 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 6: checkout to score an exclusive surprise gift with any order 624 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 6: that's codepod at checkout. 625 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 3: All right, So, string theory has its haters, people who 626 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 3: don't think it's all that or who think it might 627 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 3: be wrong, or maybe it's not all that beautiful. So 628 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 3: what are some of the arguments against string theory. 629 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, so I would say there's really two categories of 630 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: attacks people make against string theory. One is there are 631 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: just too many of them, and the other is that 632 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: we can't test it. 633 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 3: Too many string theories. 634 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:29,920 Speaker 1: Too many string theories. 635 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 3: It's not a singular concept, you know, string theory. It's 636 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 3: actually string theories. I'm trilogy a string theories. 637 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: String theory, there are a lot of There are a 638 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: lot of these things. There's lots of ways that you 639 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: can put it together, lots of different ways you can 640 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: shape the string, and lots of ways you can have 641 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: them interact with each other. And you know, we were 642 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: saying earlier, you'd like a simple theory. You'd like to 643 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: make your choices for how you build the theory not 644 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,840 Speaker 1: be arbitrary, but before by the mathematical construction. You know, 645 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: like why is there a three here? It's the only 646 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,720 Speaker 1: way that it works. So we have a theory where 647 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:08,320 Speaker 1: there are lots of ways it could work. Then you 648 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: have a question like which way do we choose? And 649 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: that's the problem with string theory. There's lots of ways 650 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: to build one. 651 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 3: They all have the same basic idea, right, which is 652 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 3: that the universe is made out of little strings and 653 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 3: everything comes out of the way vibrates. But you're saying, 654 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 3: there's a lot of options after that basic concept, like 655 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:27,160 Speaker 3: how do how do these strings yeah interact? 656 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: Or what do they sound like or exactly? And the 657 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: reason is that you can't make string theory work in 658 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 1: four dimensions. Right, Our universe that we experience has four dimensions, 659 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: is three dimensions emotion x, y, z, and then one 660 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: dimension of time. So we live in four dimensions. But strings, 661 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: for they get them, to get them to have these 662 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: mathematical properties that we want to unify quantum mechanics and gravity, 663 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: they have to operate in more dimensions for the math 664 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:54,000 Speaker 1: to works, like. 665 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 3: The dimension in which they're vibrating kind of thing, and 666 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,080 Speaker 3: then our four are just the ones where it's moving 667 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 3: around it. 668 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: In some theories, yes, they vibrate in those other dimensions, 669 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: and that changes how we see them in these dimensions. 670 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 1: But there's a lot of different kinds of string theory, 671 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: and so that's not a general statement. And some of 672 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 1: them are eleven dimensional theories and some of them are 673 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 1: twenty six dimensional theories. Right, And so the idea is 674 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: these strings are vibrating in these other dimensions, but we 675 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: don't see those other dimensions, like I don't I can't 676 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: move in twenty six dimensions. How can you say that 677 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: your theory, which has twenty six dimensions explains my four 678 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:30,880 Speaker 1: dimensional universe. So to answer that, to solve that problem, 679 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: they have to roll up those other dimensions and tuck 680 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: them away and make them small. 681 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 3: Make them like hidden, kind of like too small to 682 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 3: be experience in our everyday lives. 683 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, which is why you don't see them or experience 684 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,080 Speaker 1: them or see them in physics experiments. And there's lots 685 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: of different ways to do that, because twenty six dimensions 686 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,480 Speaker 1: is a lot of freedom, and so you can organize 687 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: that in lots of different ways, and there's you can 688 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: make choices, and you have to make choices. How do 689 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 1: you take this twenty six dimensional theory boil it down 690 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: to four dimensions? Turns out there's like ten to the 691 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,200 Speaker 1: five hundred different ways to organize that, which is a 692 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: lot of different. 693 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 3: Choices, different flavors of string theory, or different choices you 694 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 3: can make. 695 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, different flavors. You went to the ice cream shop 696 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: for string theory, and they have ten to the five 697 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: hundred different flavors. And if you want a sample of 698 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: each one, you're not even going to order. You're gonna 699 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 1: be full before you leave. I mean ten to the 700 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: five hundred. Think about what that number is, right for scale, 701 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: there's like ten to the ninety particles in the universe. 702 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:26,120 Speaker 3: Right, So is the problem in string theories that all 703 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 3: of these string theories would work. Is that kind of 704 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:30,160 Speaker 3: the problem. 705 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, And that gets into the second criticism, which is, 706 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 1: you know, can we test string theory. We can only 707 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,720 Speaker 1: see the universe down to a certain scale so far. 708 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: I mean, we use large the large Hadron collider, we 709 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,640 Speaker 1: smash particles together. We get down to distances of like 710 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,840 Speaker 1: ten to the minus twenty meters, right, really really small distances. 711 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 1: So all the string theories, that ten of the five 712 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,280 Speaker 1: hundred string theories, they all can explain things that happen 713 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: that we've seen so far, all of them right. To 714 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,240 Speaker 1: distinguish between them, we'd need to look much deeper. 715 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 3: Oh, I see, mathematically there's a whole bunch of possible ones, 716 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,200 Speaker 3: but experimentally we can't test which one is right exactly. 717 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:10,560 Speaker 1: And that's the problem because strings, if they exist, we 718 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: think they're about ten to the minus thirty five meters 719 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: in size, which is super duper tiny. And maybe you're thinking, 720 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:18,920 Speaker 1: I don't know, we can see down to ten to 721 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: the minus twenty meters. How much smaller is ten to 722 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: the minus thirty five They're basically right. 723 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 3: It's just tiny. 724 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:29,879 Speaker 1: It's much much smaller. It's ten to the fifteen times smaller. Right, 725 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: And to give you a sense of scale, like the 726 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: Solar system is about ten to the fifteen meters across. 727 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: It's a big difference, you know, if you could see 728 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: only Solar system sized stuff or if you could see 729 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 1: like one meter sized stuff. So strings are really really tiny, 730 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: which is why we're not anywhere close to seeing them. 731 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 3: Doesn't the theory have also ways in which it kind 732 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 3: of builds up to our world? 733 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: It does, but you can't distinguish between those theories. They 734 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,720 Speaker 1: all predict the same thing, and they're also competing theories. 735 00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:59,319 Speaker 1: You know, there's a theory of quantum loops, you know, 736 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,920 Speaker 1: not strings, but loops, right, that also explains quantum gravity. 737 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 1: And we can't distinguish between the various string theories and 738 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:09,320 Speaker 1: this theory of quantum loops because we can't see small 739 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:11,960 Speaker 1: enough yet, right, And so it's a criticism of this 740 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 1: whole bottom up approach. Right, Yeah, cool, you started at 741 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,920 Speaker 1: the bottom, but you haven't built up far enough for 742 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: us to test your theory. Is this just mathematical masturbation 743 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:25,280 Speaker 1: or you're actually doing something useful? Right? So sometimes people argue, like, okay, 744 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,880 Speaker 1: string theory is nice, but it's not physics. It's math 745 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,280 Speaker 1: because it can't be tested. 746 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 3: But but then that's what they need to do. They 747 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,120 Speaker 3: need to build up their math to sort of our 748 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,760 Speaker 3: scale in our world. But you're saying that's really difficult. 749 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,920 Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's difficult because they've got a long ways to go. 750 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:42,760 Speaker 1: They have to go from ten to the minus thirty 751 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,280 Speaker 1: five meters up to ten to the minus twenty meters. 752 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,319 Speaker 1: It's a tall mountain to climb, and they've been working 753 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 1: on it for twenty years. And you know, like with 754 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 1: any theory that had fanfare and excitement around it twenty 755 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 1: years ago, they're gonna be people who say, oh, you 756 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:59,520 Speaker 1: failed if you haven't succeeded yet, right, and so people 757 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:01,360 Speaker 1: are just sort of impatient. Are we ever going to 758 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,640 Speaker 1: get there? Is string theory ever going to provide something 759 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: we can actually test or these guys just going to 760 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:07,920 Speaker 1: be twiddling around on chalkboards for the next two hundred years. 761 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,359 Speaker 3: Well, I think the problem is maybe it seems kind 762 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:14,000 Speaker 3: of random that you would think that the universe is 763 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,759 Speaker 3: made out of little strings, and that you would just 764 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,439 Speaker 3: come up with this concept out of the blue and say, hey, 765 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 3: let's dedicate twenty to thirty years of a lot of 766 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 3: people's time to investigating this idea. 767 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,160 Speaker 1: You know what, Yeah, it was totally random. They just 768 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,359 Speaker 1: opened the dictionary and picked a random word and said, 769 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:35,200 Speaker 1: let's make a universe theory out of mummies, ice cream puppies. No, 770 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,840 Speaker 1: as I said before, it's a bit random, but it works, 771 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 1: you know, mathematically, it hangs together, and a lot of 772 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 1: theories don't. You can't build a theory of the universe 773 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:44,920 Speaker 1: out of ice cream or out of puppies. 774 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,680 Speaker 3: Oh, triangles, you couldn't make more. 775 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: Oh man, we never thought of it. 776 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,960 Speaker 3: That's what I mean, all shapes, stick figures. 777 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,560 Speaker 1: I'll be right back. Hold on, I'm going to try 778 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:56,800 Speaker 1: to invent trying the theory. 779 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 3: Right now, go back to you figure theory. 780 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:06,279 Speaker 1: Why not the XKCD theory of the universe. How could 781 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: we see string theory? Well, one thing is you could 782 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:10,240 Speaker 1: build a stuper duper collider the size of the solar 783 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: system and see things that small. But that's the gazillion 784 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 1: dollar solution. The other thing is you could try to 785 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: be really clever and find some unique prediction of string 786 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: theory that we could see in our experiments, something which 787 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,840 Speaker 1: would only be true if strings were happening at the 788 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:28,520 Speaker 1: lowest level right, because in physics we don't always need 789 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:30,839 Speaker 1: to see things directly in order to prove that they 790 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:32,720 Speaker 1: exist or to believe that they exist. 791 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 3: You can kind of infer information or. 792 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of our stuff is a lot of 793 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,960 Speaker 1: indirect information pointing in the same place. Right, Like, when 794 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: you solve a murder, you don't need to see the 795 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:45,719 Speaker 1: murder on video to prove that somebody did it. You know, 796 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 1: you have evidence from blood spatter and from DNA and 797 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:52,200 Speaker 1: from you know, other circumstantial evidence builds a solid case. 798 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:55,920 Speaker 3: It was mister Green with the string in the dining 799 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 3: room salved. 800 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:05,440 Speaker 1: That's right, we have solved the mystery today on the podcast. 801 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,040 Speaker 3: All right, what do you think the future holds for 802 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:09,839 Speaker 3: a string theory? Do you think it's promising or are 803 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:11,240 Speaker 3: people starting to lose faith? 804 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:14,439 Speaker 1: I think it's going to oscillate back and forth. People 805 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,360 Speaker 1: will lose faith for a while. It's going to vibrate exactly, 806 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,120 Speaker 1: It's going to wiggle and jiggle, it's going to lose 807 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: You know, it's popular right now, and for a while 808 00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,400 Speaker 1: everybody who's applying grad school and physics wanted to do 809 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:26,840 Speaker 1: string theory because they heard about Brian Green's book and 810 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,360 Speaker 1: they heard about the Big Bang theory and it was popular, 811 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:31,200 Speaker 1: and then there's a bit of a backlash now, so 812 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,280 Speaker 1: fewer people are getting excited about string theory, fewer physics 813 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:38,000 Speaker 1: departments are hiring strength theorists. But it's a promising candidate, 814 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: and we don't have that many promising candidates for the 815 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 1: theory of everything. So it'll stick around and people will 816 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:45,839 Speaker 1: come up with great ideas and then they're gonna get 817 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:47,759 Speaker 1: excited again, like, oh my gosh, look this guy came 818 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:49,360 Speaker 1: up with a cool way to make string theory do 819 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,480 Speaker 1: this new thing. So we will go back and forth. 820 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:54,839 Speaker 1: I don't know if we'll ever be able to test 821 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,240 Speaker 1: it as a theory, that we will acquire a real 822 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,920 Speaker 1: moment of insight to how to find some unique property 823 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:02,280 Speaker 1: of string theory that we can see. 824 00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:04,759 Speaker 3: Well, I personally hope you guys figure it out and 825 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,800 Speaker 3: you know, stop stringing us along. 826 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,440 Speaker 1: You don't like that we're just in our offices, you know, 827 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:18,000 Speaker 1: drawing things on chalkboard. That's right. I thought if anybody 828 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:20,880 Speaker 1: a cartoonist would appreciate, you know, enjoying the beauty of 829 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 1: diagrams and uh, you know, doodles and stuff like that, 830 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:25,840 Speaker 1: because that's in the end what we're doing. We're like 831 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,400 Speaker 1: trying to doodle the universe into it into understanding. 832 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:30,440 Speaker 3: Well, remember I'm a musicion, not a cartoonist. 833 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:35,560 Speaker 1: Oh I forgot that. Yes, maybe you could sing something 834 00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:39,040 Speaker 1: for go ahead, Yeah, sing us, sing us your theory 835 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:42,360 Speaker 1: of the universe. I'm on the edge of my scene. 836 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:45,719 Speaker 3: You'll be running away from your seat if you hear 837 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:49,400 Speaker 3: me singing. But all right, cool, that's a really great 838 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,040 Speaker 3: overview of the string theory, right, that's that's part of 839 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,200 Speaker 3: this quest to kind of find out what the universe 840 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,319 Speaker 3: is actually made of at the deepest level. 841 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:00,239 Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And so thanks everybody for listening. I hope 842 00:40:00,239 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: that we've explained to you finally what is string theory? 843 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:08,840 Speaker 3: Keep plucking away. 844 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:14,600 Speaker 1: If you still have a question after listening to all 845 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,840 Speaker 1: these explanations, please drop us a line. We'd love to 846 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,320 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can find us at Facebook, Twitter, 847 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:24,080 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Daniel and Orge that's one word, or 848 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:36,920 Speaker 1: email us at feedback at Danieldorge dot com. When you 849 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:39,000 Speaker 1: pop a piece of cheese into your mouth, you're probably 850 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,080 Speaker 1: not thinking about the environmental impact, but the people in 851 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:45,239 Speaker 1: the dairy industry are. That's why they're working hard every 852 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:48,600 Speaker 1: day to find new ways to reduce waste, conserve natural resources, 853 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:52,239 Speaker 1: and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. How is us dairy 854 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:56,439 Speaker 1: tackling greenhouse gases? 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