Underneath of Yellow-headed Day Gecko showing closeup of foot and toes clinging to polished glass
The Gecko has the ability to walk up smooth surfaces, scurry up walls and stick to ceilings upside down like spiderman. Geckos have an amazing way of walking by using millions of densely packed fine hairs or setae on each toe. Each setae are subdivided into hundreds if not thousands of structures called spatulae which are outstanding adhesives or glues. It walks by rolling these hairs onto a surface, then peels them off again like sticking tape or plaster but it is better than tape as the adhesive force is much stronger. It is thought that Van der Waals forces could explain the stickiness of the Gecko's adhesion to surfaces, when intermolecular forces are so weak that they are swamped by the many stronger forces in nature. Or, arise when unbalanced electrical charges around molecules attract one another when they are brought extremely close together as in the case of the tiny Gecko hairs so closely contacting a particular surface. It is known, but not published yet, that Gecko hairs are self cleaning, unlike any other known adhesive. Work has begun on building a mechanical gecko that will lead to a new, synthetic dry and very strong adhesive. Gecko tape. This new material with nanoscopic hairs that mimic those found on the Geckos feet, and say covering a person's hand could allow people to walk up sheer surfaces and across ceilings. Could also be used in new types of vehicle tyres to robots that can climb walls. Commercial Solutions in Nanotechnology The science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules and giving them special electrical and chemical properties. It is seen to have the potential in the product applications of many technologies from energy, the environment, information and communication, semiconductors and chemicals, medical and forensic science, drugs and in the production of stronger, lighter materials. A nanometre or nm is one billionth of a metre, meter. Very small size scale.
Size: 5079px × 4134px
Location: UK, Europe, England, GB, Great Britain
Photo credit: © NCP Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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