New theories

An artificial solar system sent ‘in a can’ into space can unravel hidden spatial dimensions and test alternative theories of gravity, a new study says. Varun Sahni of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune and Yuri Shtanov at the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kiev, Ukraine, say it would be placed in an spacecraft to be based at the Lagrange point where the solar system would be set in motion. If the “planets” moved slightly differently from standard gravity, it would signal the presence of new physical phenomena.

Music mapping

Here’s how budding musicians can improve on their compositions. Dmitri Tymoczko of Princeton University in the US has hit upon a new way of visualising chord progressions that explains why musical compositions sound pleasant to us. Musical maps devised in this way can help beginners to create better works. Why do modern pieces that break conventions sound good to us? Well, the map can give the answer.

Frankenstein!

Manchester University has announced that it has developed a technique that uses electricity to build human tissue, reports The Times. Dr Gerard Markx says the technique could be used to manufacture artificial bone marrow and produce any given blood type. It uses dielectrophoresis, in which human cells can be positioned by electric fields in a similar manner to the way that iron filings form patterns around magnetic pole. By varying the voltage and using electrodes, the scientists can build up patterned layers of blood-producing cells called hematons into human tissue.