The simple trick that ensures your earphones will NEVER get tangled again!

It’s the bane of any avid music listeners; headphones seemingly always become tangled when they’re stored in a pocket, bag or elsewhere.

But the mystery of headphones tangling might finally be solved thanks to a study that suggests a workable solution.

Physicist Robert Matthews from Aston University in Birmingham says that clipping the two earbuds together, then attaching them to the end near the audio jack, will solve the problem – and he’s got the research to prove it.

In a separate study in mid-June Experts from the University of California, San Diego, investigated the probability of knotting, the type of knots formed and the dependence on string length in their study.

Dorian Rayner and Douglas Smith confirmed that ‘complex knots often form within seconds’ and that stiffer wires are slightly less likely to form such mind-boggling tangles.

When shaken up, the wires form coils and the loose end weaves through the other strands, creating the annoying knots.

Matthews set out to investigate this so-called ‘Murphy’s Law of String’.

‘The study explains why your headphone cable mysteriously turns into one big jumbled mess while it’s in your bag or pocket,’ said Matthews.

‘We’ve also struck upon an easy solution – simply clipping together the two ends of the cords makes the cable less likely to form a knot – saving the frustration of having to untangle it before plugging in.

‘This was all about using hard science to tackle an everyday issue.

‘It was great to see how enthusiastic school students were to get to grips with the surprisingly complex science behind the phenomenon, and carry out experiments to study the effect and identify the solution.’

The phenomenon of spontaneous knotting also has other real-world implications.