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 planet. It could reveal dimensions as small as a micrometre, as well as other kinds of gravitational deviation.
"I don't think it is technologically impossible," says Stacy McGaugh of the University of Maryland.