As supersymmetry looks as if it’s going down:
Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider have detected one of the rarest particle decays seen in Nature. The finding deals a significant blow to the theory of physics known as supersymmetry. Many researchers had hoped the LHC would have confirmed this by now. Supersymmetry, or SUSY, has gained popularity as a way to
explain some of the inconsistencies in the traditional theory of
subatomic physics known as the Standard Model.The new observation, reported at the Hadron Collider Physics
conference in Kyoto, is not consistent with many of the most likely
models of SUSY.
Stickwick can explain this much better than I can, but while string theory would survive the shooting down of the supersymmetry concept, at least for a while, the falsification of three of the seven string theories would seem to reduce the likelihood that it is scientifically viable.
On the other hand, it would be a useful demonstration of the intrinsic bankruptcy of democratic popularity in science.