Tangled Up in Time and Space

Tangled (up in) cubes.

The 'simplest' entanglements of the graph of edges of the cube are enumerated, forming two-cell {6, 3} (hexagonal mesh) complexes on the genus-one two-dimensional torus. Five chiral pairs of knotted graphs are found. The examples contain non-trivial knotted and/or linked subgraphs [(2, 2), (2, 4) torus links and (3, 2), (4, 3) torus knots].

Tangled Up In Blue

Thrombosis: tangled up in NETs.

The contributions by blood cells to pathological venous thrombosis were only recently appreciated. Both platelets and neutrophils are now recognized as crucial for thrombus initiation and progression. Here we review the most recent findings regarding the role of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in thrombosis. We describe the biological process of NET formation (NETosis) and how the extrace...

The tangled tale of phase space

Listen to a gathering of scientists in a hallway or a coffee house, and you are certain to hear someone mention phase space. Walk down the science aisle of the local bookstore, and you will surely catch a glimpse of a portrait of a strange attractor, the powerful visual icon of phase space. Though it was used originally to describe specific types of dynamical systems, today “phase space” has be...

Policy. NASA's street fighter takes on tangled space science program.

A delay would add millions to the cost of the mission, disrupt the intricate space shuttle schedule, and anger researchers eager to do science. But as the long-time program scientist of the Hubble Space Telescope effort, whose faulty mirror had to be corrected in space, Weiler knew that haste might have even more serious consequences. His instincts told him to wait. “I overruled three independe...