Spaghetti sort

Cut n spaghetti strands to lengths proportional to the n values to be sorted. Gather them loosely in a fist and lower them vertically onto a flat table so all strands stand upright. Lower a flat hand from above: the first strand it touches is the maximum. Remove it, record the value, repeat — each contact extracts the next-largest in O(1) time. Preparing the rods is O(n); the n extractions are O(n); the whole sort is O(n) in physical time, exploiting the parallel nature of gravity and contact. Introduced by A. K. Dewdney in Scientific American. Illustrates how physical parallelism can circumvent the Ω(n log n) comparison-sort lower bound by using a non-comparison primitive (contact with a plane). Speed: O(n) physical steps; each step is constant time. Capacity: n positive real values; precision limited by ability to cut and measure strand lengths.