Are we on the cusp of frictionless mechanical systems?

Date posted
Funding Agency
(Funded by the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Department of Energy)

Researchers have found a way to make the Casimir effect attract or repulse depending on the size of the gap between two objects. The Casimir effect is the phenomenon in which two tiny surfaces in close proximity experience a force that pulls them closer together. The researchers suggest their technique could be used in nanomechanical devices or in computers.