For the last 40 years, most tube mascaras have used applicators made out of twisted wires surrounded by tufts of nylon strands, said Sarah Vickery, a senior scientist at Procter & Gamble, the company behind CoverGirl and Max Factor.

He tried to swing, but the pliant nylon strands held him in.

As the thousands of nylon strands repeatedly tightened, relaxed, tightened, she found herself turning slowly in a semicircle from left to right and back again.

Phiten, the company that makes the necklaces and bracelets - nylon strands embedded with titanium - claims on its Web site that they produce an electrical charge that enhances the body's "energy management system, increasing the capacity of every cell."

The invisible beam had locked in and was melting the nylon strands.

The glossy nylon strands had been cleanly cut.

The structural role of cellulose in cell walls has been likened to that of the nylon strands of fiberglass or to the supporting rods within reinforced concrete.