  It was reported by R. Tao and coworkers that in the presence of a strong
electric field superconducting microparticles assemble into balls of
macroscopic dimensions. Such a finding has potentially important implications
for the understanding of the fundamental physics of superconductors. However,
we report here the results of experimental studies showing that (i) ball
formation also occurs in the absence of an applied electric field, (ii) the
phenomenon also occurs at temperatures above the superconducting transition
temperature, and (iii) it can also occur for non-superconducting materials.
Possible origins of the phenomenon are discussed.
