Whatever Happened to String Theory?

Tech-news General relativity, Giz Asks, quantum gravity, String theory, theoretical physics November 15, 2025

Believe it or not, physicists want to keep it simple. That’s why many scientists, including Albert Einstein, believe physics could eventually converge into a single, overarching paradigm that describes the universe—a theory of everything.

Enter string theory. Very broadly speaking, string theory is a mathematical framework that replaces point-like particles with one-dimensional “strings” as the fundamental building blocks of matter. It was initially proposed as an explanation for a different phenomenon but quickly caught the attention of physicists working to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity—two extremely successful, equally valid theories that notoriously don’t get along.

Then followed two “superstring revolutions,” which saw impressive strides in mapping out the details of how string theory could capture the complexity of our universe. The fervor of string theory naturally leaked over to popular conversations—science enthusiasts of the 1990s and 2000s, I’m looking at you—producing famous documentaries such as PBS’s The Elegant Universe and a trove of popular and academic books.

With the turn of the century, however, the limelight over string theory appeared to fade. Granted, public opinion is fickle and blasé, and that non-academics don’t care doesn’t mean that the idea is dead. Still, if Google’s Ngram viewer is any guide, string theory’s clout has staggered over the past decade or so.

A graph charting the frequency of string theory being mentioned in printed sources between 1960 and 2022. © Google/Screenshot by Gizmodo

That’s the question we posed to physicists for this Giz Asks. Whatever happened to string theory? Clearly, physicists haven’t given up on a theory of everything. But is string theory the leading candidate—if it ever was? Or are there now better alternatives? Has it truly diminished in popularity and significance? If so, why?

The following responses may have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Daniel Whiteson

Particle physicist, University of California, Irvine, and the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN.

String theory is not dead! The major objection is that its predictions are for things at a microscopic scale that we cannot yet test, so it has not provided a falsifiable prediction. But that doesn’t mean it never will. Group theory was a mathematical curiosity for a century before we discovered that it was essential for describing particle physics and quantum field theory. I’m not a fan of categorizing things as “science” or “not science,” because who knows what nerdy curiosity will lead to a discovery?

John H. Schwarz

Theoretical physicist, California Institute of Technology; discovered the Green-Schwarz mechanism, which ignited the first superstring revolution in 1984.

The subject took off [around 1984] and has been very active ever since. The annual string theory conferences are still going strong and typically have several hundred participants. […] A large portion of the theoretical particle physics community is now convinced that we are on the right track to discovering the correct unified theory of our universe (and many naysayers have repented).

That said, we also realize that there is much more that remains to be understood, and it may take a long time to obtain experimental evidence in support of this theory.

Peter Woit

Mathematician and physicist, Columbia University; author of Not Even Wrong and the eponymous blog.

The idea of string theory as a new fundamental unified theory has been dead for a long time. To simplify a bit, it needs ten space-time dimensions, but we only see four, so you have to get rid of six. Simple scenarios that do this don’t look like the real world; complicated ones can give you almost anything, so predict nothing.

The final nail in the coffin was the negative results at the LHC about supersymmetry, which is a crucial part of most scenarios and the only thing with any hope of being seen experimentally. The term “string theory” has come to be used to refer to a huge range of different ideas that grew out of trying to make a unified theory work. Most “string theorists” now work not on the failed unified theory but on very different subjects.

These have generated some important new ideas in mathematics but no new insight into fundamental physics in our world. In particular, while people study lots of “quantum gravities,” these are theories that don’t explain quantum gravity in our four-dimensional world.

Thomas Van Riet

Theoretical physicist, Leuven University in Belgium; specializing in supergravity, string theory, holography, and cosmology.

Yes, [string theory has diminished in popularity]. The reason is that 20 years ago science outreachers and grant writers promised the heavens. It never made any sense. We also knew 20 years ago that string theory has a so-called landscape of ground states and so has no unique predictions.

But the so-called alternatives cannot compete at all, and it remains a puzzle of sociological dynamics how they were able to frame themselves as alternatives. Let me be clear, it’s great that people study other options. But there is simply no reason to say they achieved a quantum mechanical description of gravity.

People say that without experiment we cannot call one theory better than another. That is plain wrong. There are many consistency checks, which are ridiculously hard to pass. Can you compute black hole entropy? String theorists were able to compute it in very idealized circumstances and reproduced Hawking’s famous formula for black hole entropy!

This is where science can progress without experimental input and it is a point that is largely misunderstood by philosophers: in physics we study the whole time unphysical things… But it means you create idealized circumstances so you are able to make computations and test a framework. In quantum gravity the very game of passing mathematical consistency is so strong that it makes the search for theories almost converge uniquely towards strings.

Similarly, string theory can be just a toy model. But even that is great! I can for instance, in this model, look at a space with a Big Bang singularity and ask myself, how does this theory deal with it? It must give an answer since it is a mathematically complete theory. So it has to tell you what the beginning of time looks like in this (toy?) model.

Carlo Rovelli

Theoretical physicist, Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy in France; Rovelli is a founder of loop quantum gravity, a rivaling account to string theory.

Especially in the last 10 or 5 years, to the large physics community, the appeal of string theory has very much decreased. For three reasons. The first is that the theory has indicated that a number of physical predictions could be verified, such as supersymmetric particles observable by the [LHC], a negative cosmological constant, the production of mini black holes in particle physics experiments, modifications of Newton’s law at a short scale, and so on. None of these predictions has turned out to be correct.

These repeated failures do not completely kill the theory, which can always be “adjusted” to take care of the negative result. But they have decreased the confidence in the theory for the majority of scientists.

The second reason, probably even more important, is that the theory gained much attention in the 1980s and 1990s because it promised to solve open questions in particle physics. For instance, computing the free parameters of the Standard Model from first principles, understanding why there are three generations of particles, why those particular gauge groups, and so on. The theory never succeeded in this. This failure has also diminished the credibility of the string hypothesis.

The third reason is that after 50 years we do not yet have a well-defined formulation of string theory. We have a patchwork of related results but no clear overall theory defined by a well-posed set of equations.

Hiroshi Ooguri

Theoretical physicist, California Institute of Technology; key contributor to mathematical developments in string theory.

Unifying quantum mechanics with “general” relativity is 25 times more difficult than unifying it with “special” relativity. […] It took physicists 50 years to develop a concrete model based on quantum field theory to describe particle physics phenomena (the Standard Model) and another 40 years to confirm all of its predictions (the Higgs boson discovery).

Therefore, one could argue that it would take 1,250 years to construct a realistic model of the universe from string theory and another 1,000 years to verify it experimentally. Now, I don’t think it would really take that long, but this illustrates how difficult the problem is. Therefore, I would expect achieving such a unification to produce 25 times more rewarding results and have 25 times more impact on a broad range of physics and mathematics.

Currently, string theory is the only promising candidate for achieving unification. No other proposals have comparable impacts on a broad range of sciences or mathematical depth. So, in some sense, we theoretical physicists are developing a language to understand nature.

One thing I want to point out is that, of course, our ultimate goal is to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics and then test that experimentally. I hope that there’ll be a positive test, but if it is rejected, that’s also progress in science, so I would accept it.

Cumrun Vafa

Theoretical physicist, Harvard University; Vafa received the 2017 Breakthrough Prize in physics for his work in applying string theory to the study of black holes and the universe.

Puzzles often come in pairs, each serving as the other’s solution! This is what seems to be currently happening in physics. Recent cosmological observations by two groups, DESI and DES, in their 2024 and 2025 data have found evidence that the standard model of cosmology, which assumes the dark sector does not deplete over time, does not match the data. Currently our string-motivated model is the best model fitting their data!

In a parallel development there are experiments underway in Austria and the US that aim to directly detect the dark dimension [hypothetical extra dimension in string theory]… These experiments are within years of producing their first data.

So it seems that both the large-scale cosmological observation and the small-scale tabletop experiments are both on their way to confirming string theory predictions. We may be at the cusp of a major scientific discovery. We should have a clearer picture within 5 to 10 years.

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Tag General relativity Giz Asks quantum gravity String theory theoretical physics

Valentino Rockstud Makes a Viral Comeback Following ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Teaser

Design & Hardware

If Apple were ever going to make an Android phone, then they’d probably design something like the Xiaomi 17. I wouldn’t describe the build as flashy, but it’s super elegant and reminiscent of past Xiaomi flagships. I talked about this in my X300 Pro review, as creating a brand identity to compete against Samsung and Apple is super important, and Xiaomi has listened. While I was using it daily, many of my friends and family asked me what Xiaomi phone I was using—note the wording: “Xiaomi phone,” meaning they knew it was a particular brand, and that’s important. The Chinese smartphone maker said they thought of every curve, and I’ll just say it straight: the 17 is the best-feeling compact phone I’ve held this year.

The corners are crafted to perfection, the width is spot on, and even the way the aluminum frame blends into the glass without an abrupt edge makes carrying the phone a very enjoyable experience. Beyond that, the back glass is frosted to prevent the phone from slipping off glass surfaces, and the side frame doesn’t let go of its color inside a case.

Speaking of color, you get plenty of options, but my favorite is definitely the blue variant, as it has that breezy summer vibe. The buttons are tactile and positioned where your hand would naturally rest.

Moving to the camera module, Xiaomi has taken the iPhone route of individual stove-top camera cutouts. There are four of them (one houses the flash), and aside from the fact that dust is difficult to get out from between, I do quite like them. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is positioned at a comfy place where your thumb would naturally rest. I used it on the beach with wet hands, and it worked perfectly fine. Besides, the phone is IP69-rated for dust and water resistance, meaning it should technically withstand a swim. Did I dare take it inside the water on the beach? Absolutely not, because the IP rating is only for fresh water, and seawater can cause irreversible damage.

Display

I’ve said this before that all flagship displays are essentially the same, and that holds true for the Xiaomi 17, too. The phone features a 6.3-inch 1220 x 2656 OLED display, with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. This time, Xiaomi has trimmed the bezels even more for a more premium look, and I’m a fan. The panel is exceptionally color-accurate and vibrant for content consumption, as evidenced by my 3-hour run of The Pitt season 2 on the flight to Thailand. Even the HDR performance is exceptional.

Xiaomi claims a peak brightness number of 3,500 nits. Sadly, I don’t have a light meter to put the claim to the test, but from my experience using the panel in the 12 noon sun at Phi Phi Island, it’s plenty bright for outdoor use. The texts were legible, and I could use the phone for GPS navigation without squinting.

When it comes to durability, I usually don’t like to test that part myself and instead rely on user reports. However, I accidentally dropped the Xiaomi 17 on a concrete floor. The result was surprisingly good. I dropped it, without a case, from a tripod at chest height, meaning that, while the phone was in the air, all sorts of scary thoughts came to mind, including how much this repair was going to cost me. Thankfully, the phone escaped with only minor damage to the frame.

Performance & Software

Performance is what makes or breaks the smartphone experience, and it’s no surprise to anyone that the Xiaomi 17 delivers top-of-the-line performance. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the best Android processor in the market, and it’s coupled with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.1 internal storage. The results? The Xiaomi 17 is an absolute joy to use. It flies through the UI like nothing, and there’s ample headroom for literally any task. That being said, the phone runs on HyperOS 3, which, for the uninitiated, is a very altered version of Android that resembles more like iOS.

I don’t have a problem with the look, especially since HyperOS is one of the smoothest Android skins, with silky animations and a lot of customization. My issue is that, unlike other Chinese skins that allow you to tone down the iOS-ness, Xiaomi doesn’t.

For example, the notification shade is divided into two sections: the quick control and the panel. I don’t like that, but when I went digging in the settings to find a way to merge them, there wasn’t. Also, the back gesture is enabled in the keyboard, so when I tried deleting long text, it would often send me back instead.

There are a few silver linings I wish others would copy from HyperOS, one major one being the lockscreen customizations. There are so many options, and every one of them looks gorgeous. As this is 2026, there’s a host of AI features, such as object eraser, image upscaling, and inpainting. I tried them all, and they work exactly as you’d expect. The company also promises about six years of major software updates and security patches. This is better than vivo’s five years.

Benchmarks & Gaming

A person playing PUBG (BGMI) on the Xiaomi 17

As this is a review, I also ran a series of benchmarks to test the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s limits. The phone scored 3,415 in Geekbench’s single-core test and 10,008 in the multi-core test. These are insane numbers, especially when compared with the likes of the vivo X300 Pro and the Find X9, which score about 20%-30% lower in multi-core tests. The story remained similar on AnTuTu, where the Xiaomi 17 handsomely beat its Chinese rivals, scoring 3,423,349.

As expected, this performance translates extremely well in gaming. I’m a former PUBG (BGMI) eSports player, and my results were exceptional. The phone maintained 120 FPS gameplay even at high settings without a hint of stutter. I also like Xiaomi’s thermal management, which kept the phone from overheating during both gaming and photo capture in Thailand’s hot summer.

Battery Life & Charging

After all the chatter about the small form factor, you may expect the Xiaomi 17 to compromise on the battery life, just as other Apple and Samsung phones do. Well, you can’t be more wrong, as the Xiaomi 17 packs an even bigger battery, 6,330mAh to be precise, than the 17 Ultra. And the results are just fantastic. On the morning of my Thailand flight, I unplugged the phone at 5 am. I then continued using the phone for the rest of the day, including the three hours of The Pitt on the flight and map navigation when reaching Phuket airport. I ended the day with 20% remaining, and at 3 am the next morning, I had 20% remaining. For a more typical person, you’d be looking more at two days of usage without a hitch.

When it was finally time to charge, Xiaomi, unlike Samsung, bundles a 100W fast charger in the box that charges the phone from 20% to 80% in just 30 minutes. You also get 50W of reverse wireless charging, though that requires a specific charger.

Cameras

If a phone doesn’t fold in half or has dual screens, the only way to differentiate itself is through the cameras. They are the main reason why people lean towards a certain brand, and recently, both OPPO and vivo have been killing it. However, I think there’s room for a third king: the Xiaomi 17. Like others, it also houses a triple-sensor array, led by the 50MP LightFusion 950 sensor, a 50MP JN1 60mm telephoto, and another 50MP OV50M ultrawide lens. Colors are handled by Leica, and that’s the main strength of the Xiaomi 17. The photos it takes, with the different Leica filters, have a certain character you won’t find anywhere else. Every phone takes similar photos these days, and it’s these color profiles that matter the most.

Still, if you’re not a fan of poking around with the cameras, the default Leica Authentic profile produces colors that are very close to natural, with highlights and shadows handled extremely well. The details are crisp and plenty, the HDR performance is mostly spot on, and the contrast is slightly on the boosted side, which is what I like. Beyond the default camera profile, there are a myriad of filters, such as Negative, Positive, Sepia, Natural, Vibrant, and Blue. Each has a different style of capturing the colors and subject, and I really did find myself going through each and every one of them to decide which actually serves the scene the best. And the results speak for themselves. Every photo tells a different story, and that’s the Xiaomi 17’s biggest strength.

The telephoto lens is 2.5x, and I’d say the same about it, too. It serves as the main portrait camera, and the images deliver stellar detail, with excellent foreground separation and improved natural skin tones without the infamous beautification. Xiaomi doesn’t rely much on AI processing, so zooming past 5x-6x will result in blurry photos. Keep that in mind. The ultrawide hasn’t changed from the previous generation, so it still doesn’t have autofocus for macro photography. While it works great when the light is ample, I saw a significant drop in quality at night.

Speaking of the night, both the main and telephoto sensors benefit from Xiaomi’s mature image processing, which retains detail in shadows without making the image muddy or introducing noise. Videos, which can be shot at up to 8K, carry similar details in all lighting conditions, and I’m a fan. Sadly, it’s not all perfect. In Thailand’s heat, some of the videos I captured were choppy, even when I was in the hotel. This problem then carried over to India, where the first few seconds of every video would stutter. I’ve communicated this issue with the Xiaomi team, so a fix could be imminent. Overall, I love the Xiaomi 17’s cameras.

Verdict

Sure, the ₹89,999 price tag of the Xiaomi 17 might feel a bit much, considering it’s more than the vivo and OPPO competition. But the Xiaomi 17 brings a lot of things to the table. You get the best-in-class performance that’s miles ahead of the competition. A design that’s understated yet premium. Battery life that can easily last two full days, and cameras that, instead of being same same but different, induce a character to each and every photo that makes them more memorable. Of course, it’s not perfect. I’d like the camera bugs fixed and ultrawide performance improved, but overall, the Xiaomi 17 gets my recommendation.

#Xiaomi #Review #Thailand #Real #Camera #TestXiaomi">

mwasimuddin125 0

Xiaomi 17 Review
Hisan Kidwai
Summary
The Xiaomi 17 brings a lot of things to the table. You get the best-in-class performance that’s miles ahead of the competition. A design that’s understated yet premium. Battery life that can easily last two full days, and cameras that, instead of being same same but different, induce a character to each and every photo that makes them more memorable. Of course, it’s not perfect. I’d like the camera bugs fixed and ultrawide performance improved, but overall, the Xiaomi 17 gets my recommendation.

Design & Hardware

Display

Performance & Software

Benchmarks & Gaming

Battery Life & Charging

Cameras

Verdict

#Xiaomi #Review #Thailand #Real #Camera #TestXiaomi">Xiaomi 17 Review: I Took It to Thailand for a Real Camera Test

Xiaomi phones are a little tough to judge. After all, these guys do everything, from making phones to laptops and sometimes even record-breaking electric SUVs. The Xiaomi 17 is a bit like the quiet kid that never gets noticed, simply because its bigger brother, the 17 Ultra, is on a streak of collecting all the best smartphone camera awards. But here’s the thing: most people won’t ever splurge that much money on a non-Samsung or Apple Ultra flagship. The main sales driver will always be the base model, and that’s the question I had in mind. Can the Xiaomi 17 go head-to-head with the OPPO Find X9 and the vivo X300, especially since it’s more expensive than both? You can thank AI for that.

To answer this very question, I got the Xiaomi 17 for review and took it with me on a work trip to Phuket, Thailand. Here, I used the phone to capture about 500 photos in the summer heat, with temperatures soaring to 40 degrees, and constant GPS navigation to put the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC through its paces. Spoiler alert, I really do love this phone, but there are a few quirks, too. Here’s why.

Xiaomi 17 Review

Hisan Kidwai

Summary

The Xiaomi 17 brings a lot of things to the table. You get the best-in-class performance that’s miles ahead of the competition. A design that’s understated yet premium. Battery life that can easily last two full days, and cameras that, instead of being same same but different, induce a character to each and every photo that makes them more memorable. Of course, it’s not perfect. I’d like the camera bugs fixed and ultrawide performance improved, but overall, the Xiaomi 17 gets my recommendation.

Design & Hardware

Display

Performance & Software

Benchmarks & Gaming

Battery Life & Charging

Cameras

Verdict

#Xiaomi #Review #Thailand #Real #Camera #TestXiaomi

The Next Big ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Set Is a Multiverse Adventure
Magic: The Gathering will continue expanding this year—both for fans of its crossover sets, and those all in on the primary game. At Friday’s Magic Con, Wizards of the Coast announced several new sets, with the main course being Reality Fracture. Releasing in October, the set will wrap up the game’s current arc wherein Planeswalker Jace has created an alternate universe so he can undo damage previously caused by the Phyrexians and Eldrazi. The Echoverse introduces new versions of popular Magic characters, like Chandra having ice magic rather than her usual fire. Fracture’s creative and narrative lead Meris Mullaley told Polygon the new versions of Chandra and other mainstays like Ajani and Garruk are born from Jace’s goal to make “the perfect multiverse, [which] comes with some of his own biases. Chandra’s impulsiveness was something he bumped up against a lot. Where did that come from, what in her life shaped her to be that way? As Jace is crafting his multiverse, he’s like, ‘What if her dad didn’t die? What if he and Chandra were helping run Avishkar?’” On the crossover front, Wizards is going back to Middle-earth with a Hobbit set for Magic: The Gathering. Following the Lord of the Rings set from 2023, the characters and locations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel will get their own cards, with legacy characters like Gandalf and Bilbo receiving updates. If that weren’t enough, some cards have artwork similar to book covers, and others are done in the dwarven language. Wizards of the Coast will bring The Hobbit to Magic: The Gathering on August 14, and Reality Fracture will hit stores on October 2. You can read about Wizards’ upcoming, fully new game Mood Swings here. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Big #Magic #Gathering #Set #Multiverse #AdventureMagic: The Gathering,The Hobbit,Wizards of the Coast

mwasimuddin125 0

Magic: The Gathering will continue expanding this year—both for fans of its crossover sets, and those all in on the primary game.

At Friday’s Magic Con, Wizards of the Coast announced several new sets, with the main course being Reality Fracture. Releasing in October, the set will wrap up the game’s current arc wherein Planeswalker Jace has created an alternate universe so he can undo damage previously caused by the Phyrexians and Eldrazi. The Echoverse introduces new versions of popular Magic characters, like Chandra having ice magic rather than her usual fire.

Fracture’s creative and narrative lead Meris Mullaley told Polygon the new versions of Chandra and other mainstays like Ajani and Garruk are born from Jace’s goal to make “the perfect multiverse, [which] comes with some of his own biases. Chandra’s impulsiveness was something he bumped up against a lot. Where did that come from, what in her life shaped her to be that way? As Jace is crafting his multiverse, he’s like, ‘What if her dad didn’t die? What if he and Chandra were helping run Avishkar?’”

On the crossover front, Wizards is going back to Middle-earth with a Hobbit set for Magic: The Gathering. Following the Lord of the Rings set from 2023, the characters and locations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel will get their own cards, with legacy characters like Gandalf and Bilbo receiving updates. If that weren’t enough, some cards have artwork similar to book covers, and others are done in the dwarven language.

Wizards of the Coast will bring The Hobbit to Magic: The Gathering on August 14, and Reality Fracture will hit stores on October 2. You can read about Wizards’ upcoming, fully new game Mood Swings here.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

#Big #Magic #Gathering #Set #Multiverse #AdventureMagic: The Gathering,The Hobbit,Wizards of the Coast">The Next Big ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Set Is a Multiverse Adventure

Magic: The Gathering will continue expanding this year—both for fans of its crossover sets, and those all in on the primary game.

At Friday’s Magic Con, Wizards of the Coast announced several new sets, with the main course being Reality Fracture. Releasing in October, the set will wrap up the game’s current arc wherein Planeswalker Jace has created an alternate universe so he can undo damage previously caused by the Phyrexians and Eldrazi. The Echoverse introduces new versions of popular Magic characters, like Chandra having ice magic rather than her usual fire.

Fracture’s creative and narrative lead Meris Mullaley told Polygon the new versions of Chandra and other mainstays like Ajani and Garruk are born from Jace’s goal to make “the perfect multiverse, [which] comes with some of his own biases. Chandra’s impulsiveness was something he bumped up against a lot. Where did that come from, what in her life shaped her to be that way? As Jace is crafting his multiverse, he’s like, ‘What if her dad didn’t die? What if he and Chandra were helping run Avishkar?’”

On the crossover front, Wizards is going back to Middle-earth with a Hobbit set for Magic: The Gathering. Following the Lord of the Rings set from 2023, the characters and locations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel will get their own cards, with legacy characters like Gandalf and Bilbo receiving updates. If that weren’t enough, some cards have artwork similar to book covers, and others are done in the dwarven language.

Wizards of the Coast will bring The Hobbit to Magic: The Gathering on August 14, and Reality Fracture will hit stores on October 2. You can read about Wizards’ upcoming, fully new game Mood Swings here.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

#Big #Magic #Gathering #Set #Multiverse #AdventureMagic: The Gathering,The Hobbit,Wizards of the Coast

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And nutrition is where Toval runs aground a little. The nutritional notes on that chicken parm meal betray 2,300 milligrams of sodium per serving, pretty much the entire daily allowance for an adult human. This is also on par with comparable servings of Stouffer’s meat lasagna. The Tovala meal also carried about 10 times the cholesterol as Stouffer’s.

Many other meals followed a similar pattern, loading up on fats and salt in order to make meals tasty. The net effect is that it’s a lot more like rich restaurant food than what most people prepare at home. Whether this is a good or a bad quality is up to you.

Only one meal of the seven I tried failed utterly: I flagged a teriyaki chicken dinner to my editor as a possible cultural crime against Japan. The meal was sweet soy drenching pale and steaming chicken, with an implausible side of thick egg rolls and some loose, unseasoned broccoli. It felt like the “Japanese” food you’d get at a mall food court in the ’90s. But again, this was a rare major misstep.

A more pernicious issue, in meals designed for the whole family, is the near-universal high-fat, cholesterol, and sodium content. Many with the income and inclination to eat hearty, low-effort meals like the ones from Tovala are either parents with children, or people in the retirement bracket. Each has their own reason to desire a little more nutrition, and less fat and salt.

By the end of a couple of weeks of testing recipes, I’ll admit I felt a little relieved. I was grateful to feel my arteries slowly reopen. Tovala’s culinary model makes a lot of sense to me, as a smart way of splitting the difference between prepared meals and fresh food. And the company has proven it can cook well. It might be nice if they’d also cook a diet that felt more sustainable.

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