One of the more interesting predictions of M-theory (the successor to various string theories) is that, at high enough energies, microscopic black holes can be created. Their presence in the correct experiments would represent a powerful and early experimental confirmation of this startling theory, which holds the promise of unifying gravity and quantum mechanics.

The trick, of course, is to generate high enough energies. Current predictions imply only the upcoming Large Hadron Collider in Europe would be powerful enough to even approach the energies needed. However, it appears that someone may have beaten them to the punch:

A fireball created in a US particle accelerator has the characteristics of a black hole, a physicist has said.

It was generated at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in New York, US, which smashes beams of gold nuclei together at near light speeds.

If true, this would be very interesting, as it could mean M-theory is both right in concept but wrong in detail. We'll see...