The surprising science of squeaky sneakers

Nature News · Feb 25, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Nature Video 25 February 2026 The mystery of why soft shoes squeak on hard floors may be solved, according to new research You have full access to this article via your institution. It’s not just shoes that squeak when they slide over a hard surface. Bike brakes, rubber tyres, even some biomedical implants such as artificial hips have been known to squeal as soft and hard surfaces come into contact with each other.Read the paper: Squeaking at soft–rigid frictional interfacesSo to better understand exactly what is causing these noises, a team of researchers have used high speed photography to capture a rubber block sliding across a hard acrylic sheet.They found that driving the squeaks were pulses more commonly associated with the dynamics of earthquakes, and they observed tiny bolts of lightning initiating those pulses.This understanding could lead to advances in engineering, metamaterials or earthquake research – or even new musical instruments.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00620-x Related Articles Tiny robot stingray could swim through the body powered by ultrasound These mysterious ridges could be the secret to younger skin This shapeshifting polymer was inspired by octopus skin Metamaterial origami robots The rubber that stops cracks in their tracks Subjects Latest on: Materials science Engineering Physics The secret of squeaky basketball shoes News & Views 25 FEB 26 Light-confining device can control superconductivity — even in the dark News & Views 25 FEB 26 Sea-urchin spines generate electrical signals in flowing water News & Views 25 FEB 26 The secret of squeaky basketball shoes News & Views 25 FEB 26 Pancreatic-targeted lipid nanoparticles based on organ capsule filtration Article 25 FEB 26 Squeaking at soft–rigid frictional interfaces Article 25 FEB 26 Limitations of probing field-induced response with STM Matters Arising 25 FEB 26 Reply to: Limitations of probing field-induced response with STM Matters Arising 25 FEB 26 Light-confining device can control superconductivity — even in the dark News & Views 25 FEB 26