Beyond Einstein - The Theory of Everything

I first saw the news of this a short while ago and found the news fascinating, and now it seems it is really more astounding news than first thought.

A surfer, by the name of (Antony) Garret Lisi, he prefers to just be called Garret....living at the beach, has drawn up a brand new theory of the universe, and it is being seen by some as the "holy grail" of physics that scientists have been searching for ever since Albert Einstein presented his General Theory of Relativity nearly 100 years ago..

It is receiving rave reviews from scientists.

Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, described Lisi's work as "fabulous". "It is one of the most compelling unification models I've seen in many, many years," he reported to New Scientist.

Garrett Lisi, 39, has earned a doctorate but has no university affiliation. He spends most of his year surfing in Hawaii. He's also been a hiking guide and bridge builder. While building bridges he slept in a jungle yurt.

In the winter, he stays in the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where he loves to snowboard.

"Being poor sucks," Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."

Despite this unusual career path, his proposed theory is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics.

It also doesn't require more than one dimension of time and only three of space, whereas some other theories require ten or more spatial dimensions along with other bizarre concepts.

It may even be possible to test his theory using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will be going into action near Geneva next year.

When interviewed by the 'Daily Telegraph', he very modestly reportedly said his finding is "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything," and downplayed the suggestion that it might be the Grand Unified Theory.

"The theory is very young, and still in development," he told them. "Right now, I'd assign a low (but not tiny) likelihood to this prediction."

Enjoy,

DJ