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Math and physics professor Brian Greene’s op-ed isn’t rocket science. At least you can test rocket science.

No, Greene is writing about string theory, the most fantastical and unprovable frontiers of science. As he explains for the uninitiated masses, string theory entirely holds up on its internal mathematics, but to actually test whether the outcomes it predicts are true, experimenters would need to re-create the conditions at the heart of black holes or at the moment of the Big Bang.

Does string theory being untestable mean that string theory is unusable? Absolutely not, Greene writes. Of course, if some flaw were to appear within the theory, or some experiment actually came along to debunk it, Greene would abandon it posthaste: “I’m an advocate for truth, not string theory.”

But, until that moment, string theory is still unlocking fabulous maybe-truths about the universe. Let Greene’s words wash over you: wormholes and black holes, “holographic duality,” quantum-entangled particles that behave the same no matter the distance between them. Even if you don’t fully understand them, they might still inspire awe … and buy-in.

The Democratic nominee for president has won North Carolina’s........

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