The Ignobility of Wrinkles
Researchers win Ig Nobel Prize for study of rumpled sheets
Grab one end of a bedsheet, hand the other end to a partner, and spread it out as if you’re going to fold it. But instead of folding it, engage in a tug-of-war, with one of you pulling on the head end of the sheet and the other pulling on the foot end. The sheet will stretch a bit lengthwise and at the same time compress a bit widthwise. That combination will create a funny-looking set of wrinkles with furrows along the length of the sheet.
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A mathematician and physicist working together have found an explanation for this wrinkling pattern. For their study of sheet wrinkles, they have won this year’s Ig Nobel Prize in physics. The prize, sponsored by the magazine The Annals of Improbable Research, celebrates research that “first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.” Ten prizes are awarded each year in various fields of science.