STRINGING ALONG THE BRIGHTS:

Gravity-test constrains new forces (Matthew Chalmers, 3/05/08, Physics World)

Physicists in the US have used a tabletop experiment to rule out the existence of strong, gravitational-like forces at short length scales. Such forces, which could hint at additional space–time dimensions or weird new particles, would cause Newton’s inverse square law of gravity to break down. By directly measuring the gravitational force on a micromechanical cantilever, however, Andrew Geraci and co-workers at Stanford University have found no evidence for such effects down to a distance of about 10 μm.

The result represents a small reduction in the amount of “wiggle-room” available in theories that attempt to incorporate gravity with the other three forces of nature, in particular string theory. “These are the most stringent constraints on non-Newtonian forces to date at this length scale,” says Geraci, who is currently based at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder.

String theory is one of those classic cases where Sciencism when confronted with the falsity of its absurd beliefs simply stacks more absurdity on top. It's a kind of anti-Ockhamism.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 5, 2008 10:37 PM