Nicola Pugno, at the University of Trento in Italy, has succeeded in making by far the toughest material in the world -- by taking a conventional piece of fiber... and tying it in a slip knot. This ...

Publishing in the journal PLOS ONE, the paper suggests the new method could make ordinary polymers – large molecules with repeating units - reach unprecedented toughness by adding a knot to absorb ...

In material science, toughness is a measure of the amount of energy a material can absorb before breaking. Kevlar, for example, can absorb some 80 Joules per gram before breaking but this is dwarfed ...

Many people find this an almost instinctive way to form a loop that tightens under load — a slip knot. It’s clearly based on the Overhand Knot and is an easy way to attach a line to a post or bar. To ...