Abstract
String theory began life in the late 1960s as an attempt to understand the properties of nuclear matter such as protons and neutrons. Although it was not successful as a theory of quarks and gluons, it has since developed a life of its own as a possible theory of everything – with the potential to incorporate quantum gravity as well as the other forces of nature. However, in a remarkable about face in the last five years, it has now been discovered that string theory and the standard theory of nuclear matter – QCD – might in fact describe the same physics. These exciting developments were the topic of discussion at a major workshop in Seattle in February.