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.