Gripping question - Letters - led

Science News, August 9, 2003 by David D. Jones

"Caught on Tape: Gecko-inspired adhesive is superstrong" (SN: 6/7/03, p. 356) reports that, wearing a gecko-inspired glove, "a person could dangle from the ceiling." How would that person let go?

The microscopic hairs on a gecko's feet stick only when the angle at which they meet the surface is just right. To unstick its feet, a gecko peels them off the surface, changing the angle at which the hairs meet the surface. The same would go for gecko tape and thus for gecko gloves. A person wearing gecko gloves would have to learn to peel his or her hand from the surface.--S. MCDONAGH

COPYRIGHT 2003 Science Service, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

 

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