[ExI] NBIC/GRIN Elements as Philosopher's Magnum Opus

[spike]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Mike Dougherty
...
>>>> all sorts of liquids, for example, I am not aware of any lubricant that
is not a liquid...


>So nobody's ever waxed the runners of a sled?

>Ok, so nobody's ever owned a sled with runners?...

Having misspent my youth in Florida, I not only missed out on owning a sled,
I had never even seen one until I was 19 yrs old.  However I did wax my
surfboard, which would be an example of a solid which acts as a lubricant
against a liquid.  This stretches the usual definitions a bit, since it is a
lubricant only in the sense that it reduces drag in a solid/liquid
interface.  If we want to stretch the concept even further, a gas can act as
a lubricant: in an air bearing, a thin sheet of high speed laminar flow
providing a low friction surface between two solid surfaces.

spike