New Shape Born From Rubber Bands 120
sciencehabit (1205606) writes "Physicists playing with rubber bands have discovered a new shape. In an attempt to create a spring that replicates the light-bending properties of cuttlefish ink sacs, a team of researchers suspended two rubber strips of different lengths. Connecting the bottoms of the two strips to a cup of water, the shorter band stretched to the same length as the longer one. After gluing the two stretched strips together, the researchers gradually drained the water from the cup. As the bands retracted and twisted from the reduced strain, the researchers were shocked to see the formation of a hemihelix with multiple rainbow-shaped boundaries called perversions. The team hopes their work inspires nanodevices and molecules that twist and transform from flat strips into predetermined 3D shapes on demand."
There are several videos attached to the original paper, and all can be viewed without flash.
Telephone cord (Score:2, Funny)
From looking at the picture, it looks like what the telephone cord would eventually look like on the kitchen extension when I was a kid. (before everyone had cordless phones). Older people here might recall seeing mom get tangled up in the thing while gabbing away and cooking at the same time, she would eventually have to twirl around to extricate herself and hang up the phone.
Score: -1, Redundant (Score:5, Funny)
My old phone cord.... never mind.
Re:New? (Score:5, Funny)
But it's on the Internet...
Two strips one cup (Score:5, Funny)
No thanks.
The real discovery here: (Score:4, Funny)
People have started to rediscover things that were perfectly ordinary 20 years ago. If it is not mentioned anywhere on the Internet or you cannot find it because there is no word for it, then it becomes a new invention when stumbled upon.
I have just filed a patent for a sound storage device that consists of two spools. The sound is stored in direct form so that it can be sent to a sound emitting device without DAC. I call it Direct Sound(tm).
Re:Old phone cords? (Score:5, Funny)
No, it's a new shape, dammit!
I have also invented several new shapes. One of them, I draw part of a circle, and then it turns into a squiggly line for a while, and then a quarter of a square, followed by a third of an asymptote. Another time, I drew 3 squiggly lines connected to a 4th line that was almost straight but still a little squiggly. I call it a squiggle-square.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Old phone cords? (Score:5, Funny)
No, it's a new shape, dammit!
I have also invented several new shapes. One of them, I draw part of a circle, and then it turns into a squiggly line for a while, and then a quarter of a square, followed by a third of an asymptote. Another time, I drew 3 squiggly lines connected to a 4th line that was almost straight but still a little squiggly. I call it a squiggle-square.
By the Gods boy, where are your patents?
Re:Old phone cords? (Score:5, Funny)