IF THE universe has hidden extra dimensions, a tiny artificial solar system might just reveal them.
So say Varun Sahni of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India, and Yuri Shtanov of Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kiev, Ukraine.
They want to launch a spacecraft that would release an 8-centimetre tungsten sphere to serve as an artificial sun, around which an even smaller “planet” would orbit at a distance of 10 centimetres, circling 3000 times per year.
The hidden dimensions called for by some versions of string theory would dilute gravity, changing the path of the…
