The mystery of what makes geckos stick to just about anything -- a question that has puzzled scientific minds since Aristotle -- finally has been solved, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Geckos have millions of microscopic hairs on the bottoms of their feet, tiny enough to take advantage of a weak attraction between individual molecules called van der Waals forces. The shape of the hair tips and the angle the hair makes with a surface allows the lizard to scamper up walls and across ceilings. "The gecko has this really unique way of taking its feet off the wall -- it peels its toes like tape," said Kellar Autumn, the study's lead author.
Sticky Feat
The mystery of what makes geckos stick to just about anything -- a question that has puzzled scientific minds since Aristotle -- finally has been solved, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Geckos have millions of microscopic hairs on the bottoms of their feet, tiny enough to take advantage of a weak attraction between individual molecules called van der Waals forces. The shape of the hair tips and the angle the hair makes with a surface allows the lizard to scamper up walls and across ceilings. "The gecko has this really unique way of taking its feet off the wall -- it peels its toes like tape," said Kellar Autumn, the study's lead author.
