Sometimes you think you have a complete understanding of something and then BOOM—a simple problem throws everything out the window. Let's consider a very basic physics problem involving pushing a ...

I learned to respect friction, as a phenomenon with many nuances, when I was a graduate student. One day, while teaching a problem session in elementary mechanics, I unwisely invented a new problem to ...

At a busy street crossing, people wait for the signal to change. When one person steps out first, others soon follow. Scientists in Amsterdam have found that this same kind of behavior happens at a ...

Although robotic devices are used in everything from assembly lines to medicine, engineers have a hard time accounting for the friction that occurs when those robots grip objects - particularly in wet ...

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis discovered quantum physics on a macroscopic scale, paving the way for quantum ...

Charging from friction. Flexoelectricity and tribology may explain how. Credit: Laurence Marks/Northwestern University The electric shock you get from shuffling along a carpet might be the first ...

Neely Myers, Executive Director for the Schroeder Family Exploreum brings two athletes from the Joplin Eagles Football team to demonstrate the power of friction. 26,706 people played the daily ...