The mathematics of taffy pullers
  We describe a number of devices for pulling candy, called taffy pullers,that are related to pseudo-Anosov maps of punctured spheres. Though the mathematical connection has long been known for the two most common taffy puller models, we unearth a rich variety of early designs from the patent literature, and introduce a new one. 
Jean-Luc Thiffeault
math.HO math.DS math.GT nlin.CD