down-to-earth string theory

String theory, one of the most exotic branches of theoretical physics, imagines how matter could be made of tiny strings a gizillonth of a millimeter long. (In case you're wondering, that's really small.) So small that some wonder whether the theories could ever be tested—and if not, whether the theories amount to anything more than physicists' fanciful musings.

One great hope for seeing signs of string theory is in the fallout from collisions of particles at CERN, which will be the world's most powerful particle accelerator when it opens in 2007.

Now a new study argues that another experiment, called IceCube, that's buried in the Antarctic ice (of course) may also be able to detect the signatures of string theory.

If you're into this sort of thing, you can read more in this New Scientist article by Maggie McKee.