Scientists characterize a new shape using rubber bands

Form not found in nature could spur creation of new molecules

Cambridge, Mass. – April 23, 2014 – While setting out to fabricate new springs to support a cephalopod-inspired imaging project, a group of Harvard researchers stumbled upon a surprising discovery: the hemihelix, a shape rarely seen in nature.

This made the researchers wonder: Were the three-dimensional structures they observed randomly occurring, or are there specific factors that control their formation? The scientists answered that question by performing experiments in which they stretched, joined, and then released rubber strips. Complemented by numerical simulations and analysis of the process, the results appear in a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE.

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Obviously these researchers are too young to remember telephone handset cords which in my experience were often full of perversions.

Jing Joh said:

Obviously these researchers are too young to remember telephone handset cords which in my experience were often full of perversions.

That’s nothing. I’ve got a phone at work with a cord which can produce shapes and knots beyond those scientists’ most fevered dreams.