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In Brief

22 June 2002

Slippery when wet

THERE could be a simple way to get microscopic machine parts to run smoothly—just add water. Micromachines have a tendency to jam up because lubricants become more solid when squeezed into small spaces, gumming up the tiny parts.

But water does the opposite in a tight corner: squeeze ice, for example, and it melts. Eduardo Jagla from the Bariloche Atomic Centre in Argentina has now done computer modelling to show this means that liquids resembling water have less friction the more you push on them, so they should make fantastic lubricants. Water itself might not be the perfect choice, since it tends to evaporate or slip out of gaps altogether. But gallium, or other molecules with the same properties under pressure, might do the trick (Physical Review Letters, vol 88, p 245504).


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