Are they shoe-ins for an award? Hard to say It is a sound evocative of high school: the characteristic squeak of sneakers on a basketball court. UK readers may, however, be familiar with the same ...

Harvard engineers think they've found the reason basketball shoes squeak, and it's due to pockets of friction between the rubber and the court.

The authors also found that if a soft surface is smooth, the pulses are irregular and produce no sharp sounds, whereas ridged ...