Filament

Filaments surrounding a solar flare, caused by the interaction of the plasma in the Sun's atmosphere with its magnetic field. Source

A filament is a fine, thread-like structure. Originally the term referred to animal or tree structures, but with advances in technology it is frequently used to refer to human-made objects including filaments in textiles, electricity and astronomy. The word derives from the Latin filum meaning thread.

In astronomy
- A filament is used to refer to any thread like structure in the astronomical universe.
- In cosmology, a filament is the largest organizational structure of the universe, consisting of superclusters arrayed against voids and supervoids.
- In solar astronomy, a filament is a strand of cool gas suspended over the photosphere by magnetic fields. The filament appears dark as seen against the disk of the Sun. [1]
- In astrophysical plasmas, filaments are another name for Birkeland currents (or field-aligned currents), as seen in the aurora and plasma lamps.

In biology
- A filament is a long chain of proteins, such as those found in hair, muscle, or in flagella.[2]
- A filament is also a long chain of cells, attached end-to-end.
- See also Filamentation

In botany
- A filament and an anther form a stamen, the male reproductive organ of a flowering plant (angiosperm).

An incandescent light bulb and its glowing filament. Invented by Heinrich Göbel, the light bulb was improved upon by Irving Langmuir who found that by filling the bulb with an inert gas would prolong the life of the filament.

In electricity
- An electrical filament is used to convert electricity into heat and/or light. Electrical filaments are commonly found in traditional light bulbs and vacuum tubes. Thomas Alva Edison found that carbon made the best filament material for his incandescent light bulbs. Today most incandescent light bulbs use tungsten (metal) filaments, which last much longer. [3]

In fishing
- A type of fishing line called monofilament line.

In medicine
- A monofilament is used for testing purposes. Medicalmonofilament.com

In optics
- Filament propagation is diffractionless propagation of a light beam by the Kerr effect.

In Science Fiction
- A Monofilament is a single strand of molecules joined end to end, the thinest possible normal matter object. Typically it is very strong (to break it would break a molecular bond), and very sharp because of its thinness. Sometimes it is represented as a whip like weapon. See Larry Niven's Known Space series for examples in Science Fiction.

In music
- Filament is the name of a Swiss plunderphonics band formed in 1997 by samplist Sachiko M. and guitarist/turntablist Otomo Yoshihide.

In textiles
- Contrary to fibres (or staple fibres) which are cut to a selected length, the word "filament" is used in the textile industry to designate an endless or continuous object, the length of which is only limited by the capacity of the spool whereon the filament is wound.

In wig making
- A filament, also known as monofilament, is used in wigs to aid in breathability of the base that the hair is attached too. Wigsalon.com

Filament

See also