Researchers Might Finally Know Why Cracking Knuckles Make That Noise

Do you hate the sound of cracking knuckles? You are not alone. The noise is surprisingly divisive — you either can’t stand it or you don’t understand what everyone is complaining about. But the more surprising thing is that researchers are still trying to figure out where the sound comes from. For more than 50 years, researchers have been publishing papers are what is going on in your finger when it makes that noise. An older theory is that the sound comes from the popping of a bubble in the joint, has recently been challenged by one that says the formation of the bubble itself is responsible, reports The New York Times. And then on Thursday, the saga returned, thanks to a report in the journal Scientific Reports. Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique in France revealed a mathematical model of a cracking knuckle and suggested that the old theory could accurately explain the sound. Abdul Barakat, a professor of biomechanics at the Ecole Polytechnique in France, and Vineeth Suja, then a master’s student, came across Greg Kawchuk of University of Alberta and collaborators’ 2015 paper when they were beginning their research into knuckle cracking. Kawchuk and co used an MRI scanner to look at what happened when a knuckle cracked. Barakat and Suja’s new research lines up with that of Kawchuk.