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Published online 16 June 2003 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news030609-17

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Gear change for miniature machines

Wear-free cogs build themselves while floating on liquid.

Philip Ball

US scientists have made cogs and gears that assemble themselves, experience little wear, and perform gyrations quite beyond conventional interlocking tooth systems.

Instead of rotating on fixed spindles, sets of the gears can continue to drive one another while traversing freely along a meandering path.

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