The 8.8 knot
Variation on the 8.8 knot in honor of Dunkel, et al. the MIT team who demonstrated knots various strength according to a clever color changing fiber scheme.
Basically, a knot is stronger if it has more strand crossings, as well as more “twist fluctuations” — changes in the direction of rotation from one strand segment to another. If a fiber segment is rotated to the left and to the right as a knot is pulled tight, this creates a twist fluctuation and thus opposing friction, which adds stability to a knot.
Wisely, the authors point out that there is no winning knot in this. It all depends what the knot is used for: suturing, sailing, climbing, construction and all other areas depending on knots to keep volumes bound to each other.
Visually I borrowed the background from the Knot Atlas, arc presentation of a 8.0 knot. The planar picture of the knot in which all arcs are either horizontal or vertical creates very dynamic lines explored based on a Mango-based color theme.
I figured that sailing toward Macapa, the city of Mangos, after 7 weeks and 2,800 miles from Null on the ocean, any sailor would be looking forward to taste that succulent fresh fruit plentiful on Macapa’s food stands.
