We're on this planet for the briefest of moments in cosmic terms, and I want to spend that time thinking about what I consider the deepest questions.

Physics grapples with the largest questions the universe presents. Where did the totality of reality come from? Did time have a beginning?

In essence, we string theorists have been trying to work out the score of the universe, the harmonies of the universe, the mathematical vibrations that the strings would play. So musical metaphors have been with us in science since the beginning.

We can certainly go further than cats, but why should it be that our brains are somehow so suited to the universe that our brains will be able to understand the deepest workings?

We are living through a remarkably privileged era when certain deep truths about the cosmos are still within reach of the human spirit of exploration.

When you drive your car, E = mc2 is at work. As the engine burns gasoline to produce energy in the form of motion, it does so by converting some of the gasoline's mass into energy, in accord with Einstein's formula.

Art makes us human, music makes us human, and I deeply feel that science makes us human.