String theory nonsense makes comeback

I got a lot of questions last week about an article in Quanta Magazine about Dark Dimensions. it's about an idea motivated by string theory that combines large extra dimensions with dark matter. I had a look at the paper.

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#science #sciencenews #physics

[lowlifeuk]

I am neither a physicist nor a mathematician. As a data analysis practitioner I use some Machine Learning tools: the one I want to talk about here is Support Vector Machine (SVM). SVM works with a geometrical trick that is called the "kernel trick". Assume that you have data in N dimensions and those data are not linearly separable, the kernel trick will project those data into a space with a higher number of dimensions so that normally the linear separation becomes possible (of course I am over-simplifying here). Based on this insight I suspect that increasing the space dimensions of some data may actually help to overfit the data, more or less as when you add more parameters to your equations. So you overfit, get a better explanation of the data but the predictions (out-of-sample) will never work because the data are overfitted. I believe this thing goes back to the kaluza-klein model where one extra dimension beautifully explained electro-magnetism but could not verify any testable prediction. Maybe I am wrong, just a thought.

[johnedwards]

"That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence."
----Art Linkletter

[kevinjones]

Brane vs brian (4:29). My folks spelled my brother's name Bryan instead of Brian because they didn't want people to read it as "Brain"

[aupotter]

Besides nano and quantum, 'dark' is yet another common adjective that can create lots of business opportunity lol.

[myfriendscat]

To quote Dr. Frankenstein: " It lives. It lives." Hold-on extra dimensions, we'll find you!

[Techmagus]

Now i understand string theory and why it is called so. The string is the one on a stick with a carrot on its end that is held directly a bit before our face and we are the donkey. Unimportant how hard we try we could never reach the carrot as they ride on our back and the distant to the carrot is always the same, if we move the carrot moves too.

[arctic_haze]

I love the title. And I say that as another physicist burned by the string theory. There was time I really believed this was the solution to so many things

[PlanetDeLaTourette]

Science progresses one funeral at the time.
It is the height of philosophy of science. That's why the fundamental scale has his name. Brilliant.

[kanticscolorado]

I just love it, it says if you were sitting here during all the conversations I've had in the last 2 weeks with my friends, thank you so much you have gained more followers just by me showing the people who've had these conversations with me in the last week!❤

[gerardopc]

As a fellow theoretical physicist, I think that string theory is the aether of our time. I have the same opinion about the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics.

[ayoCC]

seems like taking a random guess and hoping it's right, vs just working with what we've observed so far.

[Earwaxfire]

Schrodinger's cat, loves playing with String, as it walks the Plank, across my Brane.

[r.phillips]

I appreciate how Sabine looks at facts before conjecture, rather than alot of other scientists that seemed to have forgotten how to use their brian.

[jrblihe]

The term sunk cost fallacy comes to mind when someone tries to propose string theory solutions to an array of problems from dark matter to dead dinosaurs and lost socks to justify string theory research.

[parsoniareigns]

To quote Mr. Mark Twain.
'German humour is no laughing matter'😊

[jcortese]

This kind of thing was part of my massive disillusionment in physics grad school after I passed my quals. I started to get the creeping sense that they were just making sh*t up. WIMPs, strings, etc. Everything. All I could think was that we really had no idea WTF was happening, and they were just throwing stuff around at random. There seemed to be no difference to them between a theory and an idea you batted back and forth over Dos Equis and chips at the El Torito on Friday night after everyone left the lab.

All I was left with is what I have now: Terry Pratchett's bromeliad metaphor. We have no clue.

[jonsouter]

“…but Albert doesn’t like that at all!” Doink!!! 😂

[JamesYale]

We just need to let string theory go...

[pjhgerlach]

'This is really some dark stuff that will make waves in science', I'm thinking while twisting my fork into a plate of spaghetti.

[ftedwvw]

I have dark cookies, too ! You cant see or detect them, and you cannot eat them, but they are real ! It contains dark matter cookie stuff, MAYBE its cacao, but no one knows :)