[ WP ] Scientists have solved the mystery of why headphones always tangle , causing huge advances in science/technology .

It started as a prank. I had heard about all the crowd-sourced problem-solving that was in vogue. SETI @ home, FoldIt, and all the others that made use of distributed computer or vast networks of game-players to solve problems that even supercomputers could n't tackle on their own. 
 
 I settled on FoldIt, because it was the one most suited for the particular problem I was going to pose. In hindsight, this is where things started to get out of hand. I was so in love with this prank, so obsessed with getting it just right. I started to do research on the design and construction of headphones. The sizes of the wires, the thickness of the plastic coating, all so I could get it just right for those hapless, unsuspecting users. 
 
 When I finished the work and inserted the new problem into the set of problems to be distributed to users, I had a good laugh and let it go. I figured that a few hundred people would work on it around the world, and that would be the end. It was a good prank, so well-crafted that I doubt anyone would even realize they'd been had. 
 
 It was nearly a month later when I heard the first news stories. Somehow, the little puzzle I had created had led to some unexpected results. For reasons I still do n't understand ( apparently they require a degree in biochemistry to really get ), my little model of headphones was the perfect starting point for understanding how proteins actually fold and unfold in life! Hundreds, if not thousands, of new drugs and biological tools are now in the works, helped along by a suddenly complete model of how complex proteins work. 
 
 Every day, I hear about some new project, some new discovery, all stemming from my work. But I ca n't claim credit. I hacked into a server and installed code without the awareness or permission of the owners. I'd go to jail for sure. If anyone would even believe me.
