BLOG 4...: The Gecko

Scientist are awed by the gecko’s ability to scale smooth surfaces- even skittering across a smooth ceiling- without slipping! How does this amazing little lizard do it? The gecko’s feet do indeed resemble hands, and they grasp smooth surface with amazing agility. Each toe contains ridges of that have thousands of hairlike protrusions. Each protrusions, in turn, has hundreds of microscopic filaments. The molecular forces that emanate from these filaments are sufficient to hold the lizard’s weight- even when its scurrying upside down along a glass surface. Researchers want to make adhesive that, like the gecko’s feet, will cling to smooth surfaces. Among other uses, this could have a variety of medical applications, from bandages that stay put when wet to a tape alternative to surgical sutures. Scientists are also analyzing the protein that is secreted from muscles, which gives these underwater creatures the ability to cling to wet surfaces.