Spinning String

Though it may look like a Georgia O'Keefe flower, this object is actually a rapidly spinning string.

To take the photopgraph, Andrew Davidhazy of Rochester Institute of Technology took a cotton string and tied one end to a tiny electric motor and the other to a small weight. The camera exposure time was about two seconds.

"The vibrating string appeared to have volume in the final image even though it was just a single string whirling in space," said Davidhazy. "This was because the string delivered uneven amounts of exposure to the camera sensor as it rotated depending on whether it was traveling toward, away or across the camera’s lens. This created variations in exposure giving rise to brightness differences in the image. In effect, the moving string had become its own shutter."

The image won an honorable mention in photography in the 2008 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.

-- LiveScience Staff

• The Science of Knots Unraveled
• Image Gallery - Electric Earth
• Ghost Photos: A Close Look at the Paranormal

Image Credit:  Andrew Davidhazy, Rochester Institute of Technology