Scientific Reason Your iPhone Earbuds Always Get Tangled

[M.D. Holloway]

String theory?

Hey, at least the guy had a question, ran some (3000+) experiments, and came up with a reason why...or at least came up with a reasonable predictor...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/little-known-scientific-reason-iphone-204513268.html


Now explain to me why shoe laces become untied?

Hope with wasn't government funded research! Dang, went all PARFy, is nothing not PARFy?

[Z-man]

Some folks have way too much time on their hands...

Next up, studies about how watching a pot alters the boil rate, followed by the effects of watching paint dry.

-Z

[yazhound]

Huh. Interesting. Must hold true for guitar cords too? Mine is always getting tangled, badly, with what I perceive as very little circular motion to coil the damn thing in knots...

[kang]

Flat cords tangle substantially less than round cords. I have a pair of Bluetooth headphones with flat cords, and they hardly ever get tangled. When they do, it's much easier to untangle them.

[scottmandue]

It is the ghost of Steve Jobs!

[911_Dude]

Pretty simple problem. Any coil that is stretched out, like a set of wound up ear buds, will have a half twist for every loop that it was coiled up. That's why you always have to let them hang a sec and un-twist.

[aschen]

Alot of times there are very real practical applications to these types of studies. I met a few profs at MIT studying very similar phenomena.

For example this guy is looking at how wires entangle to plug ruptured pipes. A sort of giant hairball for social good.

Research

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by M.D. Holloway

Now explain to me why shoe laces become untied

You're welcome.

[scottmandue]

One word... Bluetooth!

[VaSteve]

The little slider on ear buds helps keep them from tangling up.

I have read there is a way to wrap guitar cords that the pros use that will keep them from tangling. I can't seem to master it....or playing guitar.