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 by Quanshui Zheng at Tsinghua University, have resolved a long-standing debate surrounding the possibility of the effect. Published in Physical Review Letters, the result could potentially lead to promising new advances in engineering.

What structural superlubricity promises
When two objects slide over each other, any roughness on their surfaces will almost inevitably resist the motion, creating the force of friction...

Gigantic black holes lurk at the center of virtually every galaxy, including ours, but we’ve lacked a precise picture of what impact they have on their surroundings...

The familiar labels “night owl” and “early bird,” long used in sleep research, don’t fully capture the diversity of human internal clocks, a new study has found. The McGill University-led study published in Nature Communications found the two sleep-wake patterns, called chronotypes, contain a total of five distinct biological subtypes, each associated with different patterns of behavior and health.

A chronotype is based on the parts of a 24-hour period when a person naturally feels most alert or ready to sleep. Previous research has linked late chronotypes to worse health outcomes, but results have often been inconsistent. The new findings help explain why, the authors said.

“Rather than asking whether night owls are more at risk, the better question may be...

Additive manufacturing has revolutionized manufacturing by enabling customized, cost-effective products with minimal waste. However, with the majority of 3D printers operating on open-loop systems, they are notoriously prone to failure...