Shadowpaint99, I had said that string theory was in a dissarry a while ago, and I think that I can answer your question as to why now. I am reading a new book, "The Trouble with Physics" by Lee Smolin, he is a theoretical physicist living in Canada. He worked on ST and now he is working on Loop Quantum Gravity which seems to give results relating to the real world. To the basics of science and how it relates to ST.

The basics of science -- the sceintific method:

1. Ask a Question
2. Do Background Research
3. Construct a Hypothesis
4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
6. Communicate Your Results

Example:

1. "Is the earth 10,000 years old?"

2. The earth strata, dinasours seem to indicate that the earth is older then 10,000.

3. I think the the earth is older then 10,000 years.

4. Determine how hot the earth is after 10,000 years by using heat equations -- yea that's that anwser.

5 & 6 After working out the heat equations, if the earths was 10,000 years old the earth would be 15,000 degrees C, so the earth is NOT 10,000 years old because the earth is colder then 15,000 C.

Will back to string theory, right now there is no way to apply the sceintific principal to ST, I emphasis there is NO empirical evidence for string theory, it is all math, and right now there is no way to do any experiments to prove string theory. This is causing some people to rethink their position and wonder if they have spent their lives for nothing because there is no hard evidence or experimental data for ST. When the new particle accelerater (the biggest) which is being built in Geneva, Switzerland it could provide the first emperical evidence for string theory or againest the theory but even that is not sure.

Brian Greene is the person I guess you could (lead physistics person on string theory), he is the person who did the show on NOVA said in his book "The Fabric of the Cosmos"; "Even today, more then three decades after its initial articulation, most string practitioners believe we still don't have a comprehensive anwser to the rudimentary question, What is string theory? ... Most researches feel that our current formulation of string theory still lacks the kind of core principle we find in the heart of other major advances."

There are equations in ST that are so difficult that cannot be solved. I think that the real problem is that ST does not model the real world, and lacks real empirical evidence.

You Are an Alien

You're so strange, people occasionally wonder if you're from another world. You don't try to be different, but you see most things from a very unique, very offbeat perspective. Brilliant to the point of genius, you definitely have some advanced intelligence going on. No matter what circles you travel in, you always feel like a stranger. And it's a feeling you've learned to like. Your greatest power: Your superhuman brain Your greatest weakness: Your lack of empathy - you just don't get humans You play well with: Zombies

What Kind of Monster Are You?

Boat Owners

There were these two twins Jim Ryall and Bill Ryall. Jim was the owner of an old dilapidated boat. It just so happened Bill's wife died the same day Jim's boat sank. A few days later a kindly old woman saw Jim and mistaking Jim for Bill stated "I'm sorry to hear about your loss. You must feel just terrible." Jim, thinking about the boat said, "Hell no, fact is I'm sort of glad to be rid of her, she was a rotten ole thing from the beginning. Her bottem was all shriveled up and she smelled like an old dead fish, she was always losing water. She had a crack in the back and a pretty big hole in the front too. Every time I used her, her hole got bigger and she leaked like crazy. I guess what finally finished her off was when I rented her to four guys looking for a good time. I warned them that she was'nt very good, but they wanted to use her anyhow. The damn fools all tried to get in her at once and she split right up the middle. "

The old woman fainted!!!

NOVA had a show the other day about what happened in Washington State about 15,000 years ago, how glaciers from Canada created a huge dam ( Glacial Lake Missoul ) with trillions of gallons of water or 500 cubic miles of water estimated. When the dam broke it created the Scablands about 200 miles east of Seattle. The interesting was part was how the scientest discovered the process by which water (which is supercooled, below 32 C) interacts with the ice breaking the glacier apart which then creates deluge of water and ice. The process was discovered I think they said Greenland; in 1993 there was a glacier/water flood on a smallar scale but it was discovered that water under tremendous pressure water will not freeze, it then becomes "supercooled" and then starts running through fissures in the glacier, this in turn starts to weaken the structure of the glacier which then results in the water and ice creating a flood. This is what happened in the Scablands, but on a much larger scale it created valleys a 1000 feet deep, a waterfall 5 times wider then Niagara Falls and the evidence seems to point that is all happened over a 48 hour period. Interesting show.

J's new duty station will be Ft. Lewis, Washington. I will think he will have s good time there, he may end up with a cushey job, maybe. Ft. Lewis was the place where the some drug pushers decided to take on the Rangers that where stationed at Ft. Lewis. I do not remember all the details, it happened between 1989 or 1990, somewhere in that time frame, anyways from what I remember one of the Ranger's wives, or home was threated by some not too intelligent drug dealers that where in the neighorhood, and thought they owned the block. Idiots, do not threated Rangers, where there is one, there is many, they are brother's in arms. So, about 30 Rangers (if I remeber right) came armed with a basic load, and cleaned out the drug dealers. The dealers did not know what hit them, the neighborhood was cleaned out and everybody was happy except the police, and the CG. I do not remember what happen to the Rangers.

My first duty station was Ft. Riley, KS. I was with 1st Engineers ( 12B's Combat Engineers ) I was working in the S-3 shop, or operations for the Battalion (that is what S-3 does), or command and control. This where I drove a track vehicle; M577A2, Command Carrier, 13 tonnes of fun. Other then that, I really did not like being there, but the housing that me and Lily lived in was great, we really like our quarters after the new living room was added on. For the most part I was gone from 5:00am till about 6:00pm, I usually was home by 6:30. We had a idiot major who did not want to go home, it seemed that 4:30pm (when everybody else was going home) was time to start work with him, so we always had to do crap for him.

One weekend the whole Battalion was locked in because some idiot lieutenant, and sargent tried to steal M16A1 and colt .45. That Friday about 12:00pm a rumor started circling that a weapon was missing from one of the line companies arm's room. At 4:30 the whole Battalion was marched down to the motor pool for formation and the Battalion commader was there, since he was there we knew something was up. Anyways he said that a M16, and .45 was missing and we could not go home until it was found. Everything in the motor pool was tore apart, all storage containers emptied, but no weapons. So we had to go back to our offices and lay everything out and be inspected, and no weapon. So the whole Battalion stayed in the barracks Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday we had to walk the whole route by foot from the firing range to the barracks. On Sunday morning an anonymous phone call (so we were told) told where the weapons could be found, so once the weapons were recovered and secured in the arms room, we all went home. Fun in the Army.

J is still at Ft. Jackson going through AIT or Advanced Individual Training, in other words he is learning how to do his job which is "Light Wheel Mechanic." Basically working on Hummers, and other SUV's in the military motor pool's. I have talked to him a few times and things seem to be going alright for him.

I took my AIT at Ft. Belvior, Virgina and I had a blast. We had weekend passes all the time, and we (my class) all the time went into Washinton DC. I went to the Smithsonian and went through all the exhibits plus I saw all the other things to see in DC. You may be wondering how we got there since no one had a car, well there was this guy that we called Mr. Bill and he had a old school bus. I am not sure who or why he did this but he would come around on the weekends and pick up the GI's on post and then pass a hat around and everybody would put in a few dollars for gas and he would take us to DC. He had regular stops in DC at specific times, so that is how we travelled from the post to DC.

There was this guy who was in the National Guard and he was from the Virgin Islands, he never come out of his thermal underwear. He said that he was always cold, and we thought that is was hot at Ft. Belvior. Every night at last formation we had 13E (MOS) I forget what their job title was, but they were some kind of Nuclear specialist, anyways they allways ended formation by saying:

"Nuc them until they glow, and then shoot them in the dark"

I always thought was quit humours, Lily did not think so, ooooowellllll.