AND WE THOUGHT we knew all the shapes in the world, eh? Turns out there was another one hiding in our landline phones ALL along.
Scientists in Harvard have discovered a new shape, the hemihelix – otherwise known as the shape that a landline phone cord makes when it is pulled out of its tight coil. Kind of like this:
Why are they only finding this out now? No one even uses landlines anymore.
According to Mashable, they’ve decided to call the kink-shape a hemihelix as it is an elongated helix (three-dimensional structure). A hemihelix forms when the direction of the spiral changes every so often along the length.
Think of a stretched-out Slinky toy and you’re close.
The researchers determined a natural way to create this kink by twisting and turning rubber bands – they say the new shape could lead to improvements in nanodevices like sensors and resonators.
Tip: The plural of hemihelix is “hemihelices”. Don’t get caught out now.
