f extra dimensions of space exist, they must be smaller than about half the width of a human hair, according to new measurements of the strength of gravity at short distances. Researchers found that the same law governing the gravitational pull between planets continues to work when objects are separated by as little as 56 micrometers. The finding rules out extra dimensions of 44 micrometers or larger, they report in this week's Physical Review Letters.<br /><br />Discovering extra dimensions with the relatively huge size of a few micrometers would offer spectacular confirmation for string theory, the still unproved body of equations that may unify gravity with the normally incompatible realm of quantum physics. "Even though we haven't seen anything, these results put boundaries on what people can legitimately propose," says experimental physicist and study author Eric Adelberger of the University of Washington. "Testing the inverse square law [meaning Newton's law of gravity] is the bombproof way to look for extra dimensions."<br />ADVERTISEMENT (article continues below)<br />60-Second Science Podcast from Scientific American<br /><br />"I'm a big admirer of this class of experiments; I think they're awesome," says theoretical particle physicist Raman Sundrum of Johns Hopkins University. In principle, such tests could effectively rule out theories of micrometer-size extra dimensions, he says. To study such questions researchers would normally expect to use giant particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), set to switch on in Geneva later this year.<br /><br />Sundrum says the LHC may still get its shot at large extra dimensions, because the new result leaves the idea some wiggle room. "It's not killing that scenario," he says.<br /><br />With no pressing reason to check, researchers, until a few years ago, had never measured the strength of gravity when objects were separated by much less than a millimeter (roughly the width of a period on this page). But