Lubricated by their own squeak

Germany during WWII was a remarkable hotbed of engineering. Almost all of their innovation during this time was, of course, in weapons; and most of this innovation was not as readily transferable to peacetime applications as other nations' wartime advances (like Great Britain's work in computers and radar, for example; or the US's work in atomic fission).
But many of their innovations were decades ahead of their time. Look at the Tiger tank, for example -- and how dissimilar it was from other tanks of the day, and how remarkably similar it is to tanks like the Abrams, still online today. Look at the Me262 fighter, and compare it to other planes of the day, and even to jets that came later (like early Sabres and MiGs). Even in small arms development, the Germans led the way with the first legitimate assault rifle.
But one of the more interesting advancements by the Germans wasn't so much a result of their technical ability as it was pure serendipity, and their inability to produce a sealed bearing that would survive the harsh environment of a tank tread. I've only ever found one reference to this anecdote, so it might well be spurious; but it has the ring of truth to it.
Apparently, the Germans had an issue with squeaky bearings in the Panzer tank tread. This wasn't a big problem, since the sound of the squeak was usually accompanied by the sound of the tank's massive diesel engine; but the Germans were concerned about bearing wear. When they looked into this, they found that they'd stumbled upon a bearing that didn't need lubrication -- the squeak was just the right frequency to cause physical separation between the two surfaces for a substantial amount of time, and when the two surfaces weren't in contact, coefficient of friction and wear both went to zero.
But again, like many of the German innovations of WWII, I'm not aware of any applications of this phenomenon in more constructive endeavors. If any readers know of any other uses of this acoustic lubrication, let me know.

Welcome

Welcome to the Motion Engineer Corner. I'm hoping that this blog will become a useful resource for design engineers in the motion control industry, and in other similar industries.
The focus, at least initially, will be on solutions to technical problems commonly encountered in our industry. I'll keep an eye open for new products that seem particularly novel or promising, either as materials for components, as components in assemblies, or as design tools. I'll also look for clever new design ideas that readers might be able to apply to their own assemblies; and I'll occasionally dredge up old ideas that might otherwise be forgotten.
But, to a certain degree, I'll let the conversation go in whatever direction it naturally leads, and I'm hoping for some constructive input from readers in the comments…should we actually have readers, eventually. Please let me know what interests you.
Some constructive suggestions for topics might include:
	A new product that you recently found, that you think might be particularly useful;
	An issue that affects design engineers professionally, like H1B visa issues, or salary, or job availability;
	A story or anectdote related to design engineering.
Suggestions that I'd consider less constructive and would not want to incorporate into our discussion might include:
	Who's going to win American Idol this time;
	Why Motorhead is underappreciated for their musicianship;
	Anything related to Kim Kardashian's butt.
…While this last verboten topic might actually have some interesting engineering issues associated with it (how does she actually avoid falling over backward?), these technical issues would be outweighed by the more prurient aspects of the topic; and while I'll try to make this blog entertaining, I'll also try to make it sfw.
Thanks for reading and commenting.