The art of unlocking (Q6169863)

If one can roll in the FCC (face-centered cubic) and HCP (hexagonal close-packed) configurations of 12 unit balls touching a central unit ball the 12 balls over the central ball in such a way that they cease to touch (or kiss) each other, then one says that the configuration can be unlocked. This paper is a readable presentation, based largely on the authors' work, of the fact that the HCP configuration can be unlocked, preceded by a short discussion regarding why the FCC configuration can be unlocked.