Lead scientist Professor Nicholas Spencer suspected that this property could neutralise the effectiveness of the synovial fluid as a lubricant - increasing friction and wear in the hip implant.

BBC: Longer-lasting hip-joint hope

Applied NanoMaterials, a New York-based firm that is commercialising some of his work, has launched a lubricant called NanoLub, which is made of nested spheres of tungsten and sulphur atoms.

ECONOMIST: Nanotechnology: Pipe dreams | The

Grating turns the yam to a pulp of unbelievable stickiness. (Wikipedia claims that it was used as a sexual lubricant in the Edo period a fact too good to check.) The soba end up bound so firmly together that pulling a few strands with chopsticks lifts the whole mass off the plate.

NEWYORKER: Ootoya

Money supply, a key lubricant of the economy and markets, also continued to increase, and this has historically driven Chinese equities.

FORBES: World Starting To See Big Bargains In Chinese Stocks

This is why some economists argue that a little bit of inflation, say 3%, is a useful lubricant for relative wage adjustment, because it makes it easier to disguise real wage cuts.

ECONOMIST: Does your company really need an annual pay round?

Using a commercially-available lubricant to unstick the switches could actually cause the switch assembly to melt, cause smoke or even a fire, Toyota says.

FORBES: New Toyota Recall: Massive But Not So Dangerous

Humor works as lubricant in human life and put a straight jacket against conflicts with self and outside guiding towards development of congenial working environment where there will minimal barriers in communication either horizontal diagonal or vertical.

FORBES: 10 Reasons Why Humor Is A Key To Success At Work