SpenniesGeckoes Rock
June 17th 2007 06:58
The gecko is well-known for its adhesive acrobatics and wall-scaling techniques but now this small lizard is helping scientists out of a sticky situation of their own.
Recent studies of the gecko’s spatula-tipped toe hairs (called setae) have revealed the secret behind the lizard’s uncanny sticking power - a quick-release mechanism that allows it to stick to surfaces without liquid or surface tension and then detach with minimal effort. Researchers in the US now claim they can utilise this quick-release mechanism to manufacture advanced car breaking systems which could stop a car travelling at 80 km per hour in a distance of just five metres, using only one third of a square metre of this reptilian glue.
Geckos are already evolutionary wonders – they are the only lizard to make chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckoes, they have no eyelids and in defense they are known to expel a nasty-smelling substance and feces onto their opponent. Some species are even parthenogenic, meaning the female doesn’t require the services of the male to reproduce. Gecko stickiness is unlike any conventional adhesives, which often stick with ease but only detach with a great amount of force (as anyone who has ever tried peeling off those plastic wall hooks will tell you). By contrast, research has proven that gecko hairs adhere strongly and detach easily. The attractive force which holds geckoes to surfaces is a product of inter-molecular interactions between the extremely fine and numerous setae on its toes (almost 500,000 on each foot) and the surface itself.
But the real trick it seems is some clever trigonometry on the part of extraordinary creature.
Biologist Keller Autumn, of the Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, USA, and his colleagues were the first to look at the actual force that is required to detach gecko hairs from their surface, and how this force changed in relation to the angle at which it was applied. For example, Autumn and his team found that when the hairs lie at an angle of 30 degrees to the surface the gecko could resist weights up to 130 kilograms, but at angles of over 90 degrees the hairs would begin to peel off. Due to the solidity of each setae, not a single one is damaged in this process, allowing the gecko a lifetime of Spiderman-like agility. Autumn has no doubt that gecko adhesive could solve a great deal of problems and one day be of use in car breaking systems.
As he told New Scientist: “It’s such a bizarre solution to an engineering problem. No one would have ever though of it if it hadn’t evolved in geckos.”
But don’t rush to the sales floor just yet, for it could be at least ten years before gecko glue becomes a viable option in automobile safety.
“Scaling things up creates big problems,” Autumn said, “We know it’s a challenge none of the virtual gecko adhesives are capable of doing.”
Looks like we’ll have to hold on to those plastic wall hooks just a little while longer.
P.S. Someone, I'm guessing a sub, put the word 'pretty' in this article before it went to print. Can you imagine? 'Pretty'! What the hell man. As if I'd ever use that word. As if anyone ever uses that word to describe anything. He also didn't know how to spell 'Spiderman'.
Recent studies of the gecko’s spatula-tipped toe hairs (called setae) have revealed the secret behind the lizard’s uncanny sticking power - a quick-release mechanism that allows it to stick to surfaces without liquid or surface tension and then detach with minimal effort. Researchers in the US now claim they can utilise this quick-release mechanism to manufacture advanced car breaking systems which could stop a car travelling at 80 km per hour in a distance of just five metres, using only one third of a square metre of this reptilian glue.
But the real trick it seems is some clever trigonometry on the part of extraordinary creature.
Biologist Keller Autumn, of the Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, USA, and his colleagues were the first to look at the actual force that is required to detach gecko hairs from their surface, and how this force changed in relation to the angle at which it was applied. For example, Autumn and his team found that when the hairs lie at an angle of 30 degrees to the surface the gecko could resist weights up to 130 kilograms, but at angles of over 90 degrees the hairs would begin to peel off. Due to the solidity of each setae, not a single one is damaged in this process, allowing the gecko a lifetime of Spiderman-like agility. Autumn has no doubt that gecko adhesive could solve a great deal of problems and one day be of use in car breaking systems.
But don’t rush to the sales floor just yet, for it could be at least ten years before gecko glue becomes a viable option in automobile safety.
“Scaling things up creates big problems,” Autumn said, “We know it’s a challenge none of the virtual gecko adhesives are capable of doing.”
Looks like we’ll have to hold on to those plastic wall hooks just a little while longer.
P.S. Someone, I'm guessing a sub, put the word 'pretty' in this article before it went to print. Can you imagine? 'Pretty'! What the hell man. As if I'd ever use that word. As if anyone ever uses that word to describe anything. He also didn't know how to spell 'Spiderman'.
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Comment by katyzzz
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I'd like to see a medical use for this substance. I'm sure there would be one and it should take a lot less than a car.
katyzzz
Comment by D. Armenta
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Great article, thanks!