I have always found the nature of musical tones interesting; this interest just increased! - We have a lot to learn from studying the maths and nature of waves in general, and applying the science to music might just be one of the greatest ways to do this. Go go string-theory!!

An anonymous slashdot reader notes a Time.com profile of Princeton University music theorist Dmitri Tymoczko, who has applied some string-theory math to the study of music and found that all possible chordal music can be represented in a higher-dimensional space. His research was published last year in Science — it was the first paper on music theory they ever ran. The paper and background material, including movies, can be viewed at Tymoczko’s site.

• Time.com - The Geometry of Music
• Dmitri Tymoczko

A Chinese astronomer from the University of St Andrews claims to have fine-tuned Einstein’s theory of gravity. Dr Hong Sheng Zhao has created a ’simple’ theory which could “solve a dark mystery that has baffled astrophysicists for three-quarters of a century.” This new law seeks to discover whether Einstein’s theory was correct and if dark matter actually exists.

• Slashdot | Einstein’s Theory Improved?
• Einstein’s Theory ‘Improved’?

Roland Piquepaille writes “You probably already know that there is a master equation for all life processes based on metabolism. Now, physicists from Duke University have applied the so-called ‘constructal theory’ to explain how running, flying and swimming modes of locomotion are similar even if they’re apparently unrelated. This single unifying physics theory explains how fast animals get from one place to another and how rapidly and forcefully they step, flap or paddle in relation to their mass. In other words, these scientists argue that the characteristics of animal shape and locomotion are predictable from physics.”

Slashdot | A Unified Theory of Animal Locomotion