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.
Old phone cords? (Score:5, Insightful)
Back when I used corded handsets a lot one could strech them out far enough and then when they retracted you would get a very similar shape....
New? (Score:5, Insightful)
How is this a New Shape? (Score:0, Insightful)
I see it in my Desk Phone Cord all the time.
My phone cord has done this for decasdes (Score:2, Insightful)
i always get those in wires (Score:0, Insightful)
looks like the same thing that i used to get in phone cords.
Phone (Score:0, Insightful)
Looks like what happens when an old-school phone cord gets tangled.
Going for an Ignobel Prize? (Score:3, Insightful)