Staple (wool)

A wool staple is a naturally formed cluster or lock of wool fibres and not a single fibre. Very many staples together form a fleece.

The cluster of wool fibres is made by a cluster of follicles. The natural cluster of wool is held together because individual fibres have the ability to attach to each other so that they stay together. When removed from the sheep the underside of the fleece shows all its distinct individual staples.

For other textiles, the staple, having evolved from its usage with wool, is a measure of the quality of the fibre with regard to its length or fineness.

Etymology

Of uncertain origin but possibly a back-formation arising because part of the business of a wool-stapler was to sort and class the wool according to quality.

Staple strength

Staple strength is calculated as the force required to break per unit staple thickness, expressed as newtons per kilotex or N/tex. Position of Break (POB) is measured in conjunction with staple strength and is a measure of the position in the staple (base, mid or tip) where it will break given enough force.

Filament

The word Filament, which is descended from Latin filum = "thread", is used in English for a variety of thread-like structures, including:

In commerce

In physics and electrical engineering

In astronomy

In biology

Stamen

The stamen (plural stamina or stamens) is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower.

Morphology and terminology

A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament and an anther which contains microsporangia. Most commonly anthers are two-lobed and are attached to the filament either at the base or in the middle area of the anther. The sterile tissue between the lobes is called the connective. A pollen grain develops from a microspore in the microsporangium and contains the male gametophyte.

The stamens in a flower are collectively called the androecium. The androecium in various species of plants forms a great variety of patterns, some of them highly complex. It surrounds the gynoecium and is surrounded by the perianth. A few members of the family Triuridaceae, particularly Lacandonia schismatica, are exceptional in that their gynoecia surround their androecia.

Etymology

Solar prominence

A prominence is a large, bright, gaseous feature extending outward from the Sun's surface, often in a loop shape. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's corona. While the corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases, known as plasma, which do not emit much visible light, prominences contain much cooler plasma, similar in composition to that of the chromosphere. The prominence plasma is typically a hundred times cooler and denser than the coronal plasma. A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and prominences may persist in the corona for several weeks or months. Some prominences break apart and may then give rise to coronal mass ejections. Scientists are currently researching how and why prominences are formed.

A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and stable prominences may persist in the corona for several months, looping hundreds of thousands of miles into space.

The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas composed of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. The prominence plasma flows along a tangled and twisted structure of magnetic fields generated by the sun’s internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma.