No matter how tight you tug, it feels like some shoelaces are doomed to come untied.
Fret no longer, as new research from the University of California, Berkeley, has figured out the physics behind why the knots fail and why some shoelaces are more prone to the mistake.
While the poetic inevitability of the slipup may provide comfort to those afflicted by wayward shoelaces, the research published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A may also provide clues for building soft, lifelike robots.
Mechanical engineer Oliver O’Reilly began looking into this telltale problem three years ago, after trying to teach his young daughter to tie her shoes.
Which sentence from the article contains information that should be left out of an abstract?
A) “Right off the bat, they found shoelaces didn’t untie when a person just swung their foot nor when they only stamped the ground.”
B) “The team acquired a high-speed camera and pointed it at Gregg’s shoes as she ran on a treadmill.
C) “This result suggests laces made from heavier materials may be more prone to screwing up, because unless you’re phenomenally gifted at tying even knots, one free end will likely be longer than the other.”
D) “Mechanical engineer Oliver O’Reilly began looking into this telltale problem three years ago, after trying to teach his young daughter to tie her shoes.”