"Gecko feet" refers to the unique ability of geckos to cling to and walk on surfaces such as walls and ceilings.
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Although materials researchers have made surfaces that borrow from the nanoscale design
of gecko feet, the imitators» adhesive power fades after repeated attachment and removal (SN: 6/7/03, p. 356), and they don't work when wet.
A new robotic gripping tool based
on gecko feet can grab hold of floating objects in microgravity.
Adhesives inspired
by gecko feet — which use van der Waals forces to cling without feeling sticky (SN Online: 11/18/14)-- could fit the bill, says Mark Cutkosky of Stanford University, whose team has been designing such stickers for more than a decade.
Further, the polymer scientists in the group created synthetic three -
toed gecko feet from fabrics and soft elastomers to model adhesive performance.
These experiments with
synthetic gecko feet showed the same pattern, confirming results observed in live geckos.
A phenomenon called van der Waals forces, named for Nobel Prize - winning physicist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, explains the non-permanent stickiness of the grippers, as well
as gecko feet.
Lead author Jeffrey Karp, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital, has a habit of looking to the natural world for adhesive ideas, such as gravity -
defying gecko feet or grasping porcupine needles.
Further, as in
natural gecko feet, the skin is woven into a synthetic «tendon,» yielding a design that plays a key role in maintaining stiffness and rotational freedom, the researchers explain.
The substance mimics the design
of gecko feet, which are covered in millions of tiny hairs that each end in a profusion of spatula - shaped tips.
There are robots that grow like plants (SN Online: 7/19/17) and grippers modeled
on gecko feet (SN Online: 6/28/17)-- those stories include video.
A robot with grippers inspired
by gecko feet could solve that problem, helping to clear up the mess of debris orbiting Earth.
This ranged from tiny cameras to adhesives based on
gecko feet to mind - computer interfaces to, yes, gait analysis.
Gecko feet are covered by billions of tiny hair tips, or spatulae, that hug surfaces.
Although researchers can not make a perfect replica of
the gecko foot, they have put «hair» structures on the adhesive pads of the grippers.
For years, biologists have been amazed by the power of
gecko feet, which let these 5 - ounce lizards produce an adhesive force roughly equivalent to carrying nine pounds up a wall without slipping.
The sticky substances found on
gecko feet, meanwhile, have given rise to synthetic dry adhesives.
That sticker is made to imitate the pads of
gecko feet, which are very sticky!