For the first time, physicists in China have virtually eliminated the friction felt between two surfaces at scales visible to the naked eye. In demonstrating "structural superlubricity," the team, led ...

Explore how forces and friction work to hold a block against a vertical wall. This video explains normal force, frictional force, and equilibrium conditions, showing how these forces balance to ...

The question is not how to eliminate friction. The question is how to manage it so it becomes traction and traction becomes forward motion.

In "Friction," tribologist Jennifer Vail shows how the fundamental force that resists motion keeps driving us forward.

Scientists led by the University of Leicester have made an insight into superlubricity, where surfaces experience extremely low levels of friction While many of us are treading carefully to avoid a ...

Nanotribology is the study of friction, wear, and lubrication at the nanoscale. It focuses on understanding and controlling the interactions between surfaces in relative motion when the contact area ...

How much do you know about friction? Jennifer R. Vail's charming, if sometimes technical, "biography" of the force showcases its amazing and largely overlooked role in everything from climate change ...

As the potter works the spinning wheel, the friction between their hands and the soft clay helps them shape it into all kinds of forms and creations. In a fascinating parallel, sea squirt oocytes ...

Friction is an intrinsic physical phenomenon to curling. Without it, objects in motion would move endlessly, without slowing down. This would cause many safety-related problems: Cars or trains could ...

Humans have been making fire using friction for thousands of years, with evidence of its use found in archaeological records across different cultures worldwide. Fire by friction is a testament to ...