Have you ever wondered what the universe is made of?

Hey, it's Dan, this is the Fun Kids Science midweekly, our tour of the wonders of the universe.

Now, every Wednesday, I'm here, we do a lot.

I answer your science questions to start off with. Today, we're looking at exactly what makes up everything around you. And whether or not you can hypnotise someone.

Hello, I'm Marianne and I'm 13 and I was just wondering what string theory is. Thank you.

What is string theory? Well, string theory is very hard for me to try and explain in

like a 10-ish minute podcast. Very hard for me to try and explain in 10 years worth of going to school,

I would say. I will do my best.

String theory is an idea. It's a theory about the way the universe works. Now, this is generally

known, right? In atoms, which make everything, you've got tiny little particles called protons

and neutrons. That's what make the atoms. It makes them different from each other, how many

of each there are.

Inside those, you've got even smaller ones called quarks.

Now, until 1969, people thought that quarks were the smallest possible thing that could exist.

But someone called Gabrielle Veniziano suggested that quarks are made up of something even smaller, tiny strings. When these strings

wiggle or vibrate, they gain traits. They gain qualities like mass. Think of this like

notes being played on a guitar. The guitar string vibrates and a specific note comes out depending on

how long or short the string is.

That's how these experts who think about string theory say the universe works, that everything's

made of tiny little strings and the amount they wiggle, kind of says what they do. People think

that string theory could link together the science of the very big with the very small.

So the planets and stars and how that connects to something tiny like atoms and quarks.

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