For machines with mechanical elements, friction is an unavoidable enemy. It is a major source of service failure and can reduce the lifespan of any machinery, from bicycles and cars to airplanes and ...

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 ...

Going fast is important. I mean what would racing be without speed? But on the other side of the coin, going fast will end in dramatic fashion if you aren't able to safely set your car for each corner ...

Here’s the rub with friction — scientists don’t really know how it works. Although humans have been harnessing its power since rubbing two sticks together to build the first fire, the physics of ...

Conventional car brakes are built with one thing in mind, the purpose of stopping the car. Since this purpose is essential, a great deal of time and resources were invested in the evolution of such ...

On the macroscale, adding fluorine atoms to carbon-based materials makes for water-repellant, non-stick surfaces, such as Teflon. However, on the nanoscale, adding fluorine to graphene had been ...

The field of economics has long modelled itself after Newtonian physics. When physicists analyse a complex problem, they usually begin with the simplest version and neglect any complicating effects, ...

Frictional experiment: artist’s impression of the metainterface between a rigid piece of glass (top) and a metasurface (bottom). The textured regions are where the glass and metasurface are in contact ...

The Futura Team represents the pulse of Futura’s editorial department, bringing together a collective expertise dedicated to the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Rather than the work of a single ...