Picks. No one knows where they go, except that they disappear when you need them. One theory is that they are self-contained and self-creating mini-micro black holes which are sometimes tangible. Then, when most needed, they "eat themselves" (to use the Blackholers' technical term) and vanish. They may or may not reappear later when their loss is most lamented and likely to cause to most anguish and cursing. The total, world-wide, extinction and disappearance of lute picks is a mystery to luters and which scientists have been unable to solve.