Unraveled shoelaces are the bane of people worldwide. The pesky knots magically appear to come apart at the most inconvenient times – in the final sprint of a long run or just before a crucial point in a game. However, while there has been a lot of research conducted on the durability of the various types of knots, nobody has ever investigated the fundamental question – why do laces come undone? Now, thanks to a team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, there is finally a scientific explanation to this knotty problem which affects both young and old.