Changes

Generally accepted scientific theories have survived over time, have evolved when appropriate, and modified toward consistency with newly discovered data, have not been shown to be false and can make predictions about natural phenomena. <ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/theory </ref> Scientific theories can sometimes be used as the basis for industrial and technical developments.  

Generally accepted scientific theories have survived over time, have evolved when appropriate, and modified toward consistency with newly discovered data, have not been shown to be false and can make predictions about natural phenomena. <ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/theory </ref> Scientific theories can sometimes be used as the basis for industrial and technical developments.  

A scientific theory does not necessarily have to have strong experimental support or accepted by the scientific community. Scientists often refer to untested theories and competing theories. Theories can be extremely well-confirmed, such as conservation of energy, or speculative, such as [[String Theory]].  

A scientific theory should have to have strong experimental support or accepted by the scientific community. However, some scientists mistakenly refer to untested theories and competing theories. Theories are generally extremely well-confirmed, such as conservation of energy. Some more speculative 'theories' are more accurately labelled 'hypothesis' within the scientific community, such as String Theory.

A successful theory is most consistent with the actual behavior of the universe.  When a phenomenon is discovered that is inconsistent with the prevailing theory, the theory is either revised or thrown out entirely.  An example of this is  [[Newtonian mechanics]]--while Newton's 3 laws of motion provide extremely accurate descriptions/predictions of the behavior of medium-sized objects at low speeds, they are inconsistent with the behavior of very large, very fast, or very small objects.  Newtonian mechanics has been shown to be a limiting case of the [[theory of relativity]] (in the limit where velocity goes to 0) and [[quantum mechanics]] (in the limit where [[Planck's constant]] goes to 0, essentially the limit of large objects).  Usually a theory which is inconsistent with some experimental evidence is not completely falsified; it is instead shown to be a simplified version of a more complete theory.

A successful theory is most consistent with the actual behavior of the universe.  When a phenomenon is discovered that is inconsistent with the prevailing theory, the theory is either revised or thrown out entirely.  An example of this is  [[Newtonian mechanics]]--while Newton's 3 laws of motion provide extremely accurate descriptions/predictions of the behavior of medium-sized objects at low speeds, they are inconsistent with the behavior of very large, very fast, or very small objects.  Newtonian mechanics has been shown to be a limiting case of the [[theory of relativity]] (in the limit where velocity goes to 0) and [[quantum mechanics]] (in the limit where [[Planck's constant]] goes to 0, essentially the limit of large objects).  Usually a theory which is inconsistent with some experimental evidence is not completely falsified; it is instead shown to be a simplified version of a more complete theory.