Sci/Tech The First Ever Video of a Cracking Joint

[tom_mai78101]

Scientists based out of the University of Alberta have -- for the first time -- imaged a joint cracking in real time, effectively putting to rest a decades-long debate in the process. They revealed their success in the journal PLoS ONE.

Doubtless you've experienced the physiological wonder that is a cracking knuckle. The audible pop it makes can sometimes be heard across an entire room, making many bystanders wince. But they probably have nothing to cringe about. While joint cracking may sound painful, it's not associated with any adverse health effects -- arthritis, for example.

Everyone knows that bending or stretching a joint is what causes it to crack, but what's going on under the skin? First off, a joint is where two bones meet. At the ends of each bone is soft, cushioning cartilage. Connecting the cartilage -- and thus the bones -- is a synovial membrane that's filled with a thick, lubricating fluid. Bending the joint can cause the membrane to stretch, which in turn causes the pressure inside it to drop and a bubble of dissolved gas to form within the fluid. The whole process is called tribonucleation.

Read more here. (Real Clear Science)

 

[seph ir oth]

Oh.

I don't even smoke anymore and I wondered how a joint could crack. Wrong kind

 

[The Helper]

Would love to crack a joint right now Seriously though - glad they are spending money on finding this out because inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Varine]

And because it's kind of an obvious and, at the very least, not a trivial aspect of our body. And therefore exact knowledge and evidence if the function and process is beneficial to literally every person that will ever live.