>However, string >theory postulates many dimensions that we can't perceive because they're >"curled up" smaller than an atom, and the big bang theory can be >encapsulated in that broader theory that is still in its "infancy." Halim          I am led to believe that the only reason that string theorists postulate that the extra dimensions are curled up smaller than an atom is simply because they can't see any evidence of them with their equipment. So they do the typical scientist thing of saying that if they can't study them, they must be insignificant. It's the old story of living under a streetlight and pretending that there can't be much that exists outside of the tiny light that it casts.