Posted on 10/08/2007 11:02:03 AM PDT by txroadkill
Tangled telephone cords and electronic cables that come to resemble bird nests can frazzle even the most stoic person. Now researchers have unraveled the mystery behind how such knots form.
Two physicists used string-tumbling experiments and mathematical models to create a step-by-step recipe for knot formation and determined which factors cause the knottiest knots. Their research, published online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on an everyday phenomenon about which little was known beyond the madness it incites.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
No, no, no ... We must all band together to put a stop to these 'knots' and the havoc they inflict on society. These so-called scientists have done a great service to their country and to mankind in general by discovering the root-causes of these hideous monsters that invade our everyday lives. Just think of the eradication of the evils of tangled string, snarled thread and the ever-malicious interwoven phone cords. We have been saved in the nick of time. Great job O' anonymous researchers. The world is in your debt.
Out, around the tree, over and back under the lead twice, under and through the “y” twice... that’s an active little dog you got there.
The look is what makes it ‘perfect’.
“I didn’t do nothin’!”
His name is “Mr. Big.” Usually it’s the neighborhood cats walking by that get him stirred up and turns him into a knot-tying buzzsaw. He’s my buddy.
Knots are Bush’s Fault. That said: who funded this study?
Probably much to the amusement of the neighborhood cats.
“Hey, check out the dog!” cat1
“Dog? Oh, there.. wow, he’s really in a frenzy.” cat2
“Wonder what’s bothering him?” cat1
“I dunno, should we go ask?” cat2
“Whatever is bothering him, he’s getting more frantic as we get closer.” cat1
“Probably should just walk away, he could be one of them.. you know.” cat2
“I hear ya, hey.. Stevenson’s around the corner has a new bird!” cat1
“They do? Cool! Let’s go watch!” cat2
LOL! If they are not saying it, they are certainly thinking it! These are wild house cats that live in my storage buildings and barns and whose population seems to vary each year. Some day I suppose the City will get after them like they do the stray dogs but they sure keep my mice at bay. I’ve seen these rascal felines lie in the sun just out of reach of Mr. Big’s leash. It literally drives him nuts. Of course, I have to watch him closely when he’s outside. If he ever caught one of the cats, I fear what they’d do to him.
Visualize Barney Fife.
Yikes!
I have a 24 pound cat, thankfully she likes dogs.
But I still hesitate to get a dog smaller than she is, the only experience she has of ‘dog’ is with one bigger than she is.
They are waiting for the grant before actually starting the work in the lab.
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