This mechanism shrinks when pulled

Braess's paradox

It's a reversible case of Braess's paradox. Adding components to a network can sometimes make it worse, causing it to shrink when pulled instead of stretch.

• 🧰 The mechanism uses three components that individually stretch, but combine to contract when pulled.
• 📈 This "counter-snapping" behavior is the opposite of typical snapping structures like keyboards or bendy straws.
• 🚗 Braess's paradox explains how adding roads to a city can worsen traffic, and this mechanism is a physical example.
• 💡 The effect can be used to almost double a structure's natural frequency without changing its length.
• ⚡ It can also be used to actively reduce vibrations in structures by shifting their resonance point.

Two hands are pulling apart a complex blue and red mechanical contraption, with large white text above reading "Pulling makes it shorter".