The Science Life Math

An enduring Möbius strip mystery has finally been solved

A mathematician’s journey to prove how short the loops can be had some twists and turns

An illustration of a green Möbius strip, a loop of paper with a half-twist in it.

A Möbius strip (one shown) is a loop of paper with a half-twist in it. A mathematician has now proven the shortest possible Möbius strip for a given width.

MirageC/Moment/Getty Images Plus

By Emily Conover

Any attempt to better understand Möbius strips is bound to run into some kinks.

The twisted loops are so strange that mathematicians have struggled to answer some basic questions about them.