These worms can escape tangled blobs in an instant. Here’s how

Like tiny, wriggling Houdinis, California blackworms are master escape artists. Groups of the worms work themselves into gnarly tangles but they can undo the knots in just tens of milliseconds. Now scientists have teased out how they do it.

Found in ponds and other standing water, California blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus) interlace themselves into clumps to control their temperature or conserve moisture (SN: 1/11/19). The worms are typically just a few centimeters long. Their clumps, which can contain anywhere from 5 to 50,000 worms, take minutes to weave. But when…