How and Why Knots Spontaneously Form

palegray.net writes "Scientists believe they have found the underlying reasons why knots are so common in the universe. This research helps us understand how knotty arrangements in various molecules lead to biological patterns, as in certain proteins. The article also provides a look at the field of topology, and how it relates to knots."

Comments

Hair

[Verteiron]

But can they explain why knots form in your hair after laying still for as little as an hour? My wife blames gnomes, and I'm inclined to agree with her.

Re:Hair

[nuclearpenguins]

Gnomes? I'm afraid knot.

Re:Hair

[Anonymous Coward]

It can't be gnomes, it has to be KDEs.

Re:Hair

[dbolger]

A more relevant example would be how you can set up a PC for the first time, and have all the cables carefully arranged so that there is no crossing over or tangling, and yet when you come back six months later, to add a new device or to swap out a cable, every single one of them is wrapped tightly around the others to such an extent that you can't understand how it could come about without somebody doing it intentionally.

Re:Hair

[Zeros]

Or why is it that even when i organize my cables on the back of the computer they will become a huge knot, i think bush just comes every night and tangles them.

Re:Hair

[SetupWeasel]

I like how a post about a woman's hair gets no moderation, but a reply about computer wires with exactly the same point gets +5.

Since this is Slashdot, all must be right with the universe.

Re:Hair

[ScrewMaster]

Because the computer reference has relevance to the Slashdot crowd (I mean, they've actually seen this phenomenon happen with cables) but a woman's hair? How often does a basement dweller get close enough to a woman to notice that her hair is tangled or not?

Re:Hair

[Anonymous Coward]

If your wife lies still while laying, you have other problems than knotted hair.

Re:Hair

[sound vision]

Gnome has it's own version of knot, it's just called gnot.

Re:Hair

[Silver Gryphon]

Gnomes? I'm a frayed knot.
There, fixed that for ya.

All knotted up for next year.

[theleoandtherat]

Any tip about packing christmas lights?

Do we really need an answer?

[pla]

This research helps us understand how knotty arrangements in various molecules lead to biological patterns, as in certain proteins.

Because He reached out his noodly appendage and put the spark of life in our universe.


"And the earth was without form, and void; and straightness was upon the face of the pan. And His Noodly Appendage moved upon the face of the sauce.

And FSM said, Let there be knots: and there were knots.

And FSM saw the knots, that they were good: and FSM divided the knots from the straightness as happens when you boil short and long pasta at the same time.

And FSM called the knots Spaghetti, and the straightness he called Ziti. And the strands and tubes were the first course."


Duh?

Yes, but what about shoe laces, huh?

[Prototerm]

That explains why knots spontaneously form in wires and cables when you stick them in a box, but what about the way knots spontaneously come undone in your shoe laces? Perhaps in an alternate universe, shoe laces spontaneously knot themselves, and wires and cables untangle in storage. Of course, with that sort of altered physics, Homer Simpson would probably be the President of the United States.

Oh, wait.

Fishing line

[Eudial]

Fishing line is epic.

It can be straight, but the moment it comes into contact with anything, or disappears outside of the line of view, or for no apparent reason at all, it's a virtual loom of spontaneous knots.

So this is where string theory leads us?

[rickb928]

How hard is this? The Universe is a box full of string. Knots form. Some make pretty big knots.

Eventually, when the chimps write a decent but unpopular novel, balls of string form. Many balls. In time, these seem to have gathered and caused all sorts of interesting phenomenae, like stars, Western clothing, and Jessica Alba.

Unfortunately, this can only end one of two ways...

1- The string gets untangled. All devolves into a box of string again. Knots form again.

2- All this gets emptied into another box. Sold at a yard sale. Who knows what happens with the new owner... Actually, even if the string gets untangled, it ends up in a yard sale.

Physics. It's really all about yard sales.

Re:Hair & Wires

[TaoPhoenix]

When I parsed the mentioned comment, it stated "undeclared-your" hair was the subject of the knotting. The Wife's spurious attribution of the cause to small semi-sentient beings does not change the knots in your hair.

Meanwhile, when is the last time you swapped your hair strands around with the purpose of installing new hardware?

Re:Hair & Wires

[SetupWeasel]

I've never personally purchased a weave, but I hear many women do.

A string walks into a bar.

[Fjord]

A string walks into a bar.

He asks for a shot of tequila. The bartender replies "Sorry we don't serve strings". So the string leaves.

The next day, the same string walks back into the bar. He asks for a shot of tequila. The bartender replies "Sorry we do not serve strings, please go away."

The following day the string stands outside the bar debating about whether to go in or not. He ties himself up and messes the top of end so that it's loose and uneven.

He goes in and asks for a shot of tequila. The bartender replys "Hey aren't you that string that's been coming in here all the time."

The string replies "No I'm a freyed knot".