What are the Strings in String Theory?

Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACEUploaded 18-10-18To learn more about 23andMe head to https://23andme.com/spacetimeWhy strings? What are they made of? How did physicists even come up with this bizarre idea? And what’s all this nonsense of extra dimensions?You can further support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetimeGet your own Space Time t­-shirt at http://bit.ly/1QlzoBiTweet at us! @pbsspacetimeFacebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetimeEmail us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] comComment on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/pbsspacetimeHelp translate our videos!https://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_...Previous Episode:Computing a Universe Simulationhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GLgZvTCbaAHosted by Matt O'DowdWritten by Matt O'DowdGraphics by Luke MaroldiAssistant Editing and Sound Design by Mike PetrowMade by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)In physics we like to reduce down our description of the mechanics of reality to the simplest possible form. We expect the most fundamental machinery to have the fewest possible moving parts – or free parameters. This is why the standard model of particle physics is considered incomplete. Its equations predict many things with stunning accuracy, but they first require us to tune many mathematical knobs and dials. We need to use physical measurement to fix 19 free parameters like the masses of particles. And then there’s gravity, which doesn’t fit into the standard model at all. So surely there exists a deeper set of cogs and wheels – a theory that brings all observable phenomena into the same mechanical framework.