This TED Talk features tribologist Jennifer Vale recorded live at TED at DuPont 2019.

I have to admit that it's a lot of fun when people ask me what I do for my job because I tell them I literally rub things together.

This sounds ridiculous. Just rubbing things together.

But it has a technical name.

Tribology.

T-R-I-B-O-L-O-G-Y.

From the ancient Greek word tribos, which means to rub.

It's a funny-sounding word you've probably never heard before,

but I promise you, discovering it, changes your experience with the physical world.

Tribology has given me amazing projects. I've worked on materials that fly, and I've worked on dog food.

A combination that doesn't sound like one person has any business doing in the span of just a couple years,

until you start to view the world through a tribological lens.

And I think you'll be surprised at how significant a little bit of tribology can be in alleviating some very large problems.

Tramology is the study of friction, wear, and lubrication.

You have all experienced all three of these things.

Remember the last time you tried to move a heavy object across the floor and you could just

feel something resisting you?

That would be friction.

Friction is the force that opposes motion.

Where is the loss or transfer of material?

It's the reason you have to replace your favorite shoes because eventually the

souls disappear.

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