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Peering backward in time to an instant after the big bang, physicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised an approach that may help unlock the hidden shapes of alternate dimensions of the universe. A new study demonstrates that the shapes of extra dimensions can be "seen" by deciphering their influence on cosmic energy released by the violent birth of the universe 13 billion years ago. The method, published in Physical Review Letters, provides evidence that physicists can use experimental data to discern the nature of these elusive dimensions - the existence of which is a critical but as yet unproven element of string theory, the leading contender for a unified "theory of everything." For the full article: Click Here .

"If this shape can be measured, it would also tell us that string theory is correct."

That's tremendously exciting stuff. It would surely be the greatest scientific discovery - ever. The much maligned Edward Wittens of the the world would instantly become heroes.

"That's tremendously exciting stuff. It would surely be the greatest scientific discovery - ever. The much maligned Edward Wittens of the the world would instantly become heroes."

Nah, it isn't. One still has to prove that it is string theory and not some 4-dimensional effective field theory in the regular 4-dimensions. This is the main problem with string theory: any effects pervading from "other" dimensions can be described by a 4-dimensional effective field theory, the latter possibly less elegant than the string theory formalism. So go figure.