You might look at my title and be a little confused. Now, don’t take this the wrong way; geckos aren’t taking over the world or anything. On the other hand, geckos do have more of an influence on our lives than we may notice. To most of us geckos are just amphibians in the wild that don’t really hold much significance in our daily lives. This way of thinking is extremely understandable, but it turns out that geckos have come to inspire new technology that is useful in day to day matters.
Gecko’s feet in particular are what have been inspiring new and advanced technology. Personally I had never given much thought to the science behind gecko feet. Interestingly enough after some research I found that gecko feet have some really interesting technology. behind them that is really useful to science. Gecko feet allow them to scale vertical walls and hang out upside down and geckos have the power to basically turn the stickiness of their feet on and off. Gecko bulbous toes are covered in hundreds of tiny microscopic hairs call setae. These setae then proceed to split into hundreds of even smaller hairs called spatulae. These hairs become so close to the contours in surfaces that something called the van der Waals force takes place. This is when electrons from a gecko’s hair molecules and the electrons from the wall molecules create what is called an, “electromagnetic attraction.”
To study how gecko feet work research and science need to take place. One way that one could study how gecko feet work is through naturalistic observation. By looking at how a gecko can use its feet to climb and hang in its natural environment, a lot can be studied through naturalistic observation. Additionally, looking at gecko feet in a lab would be very useful. It would be very inhumane to kill a gecko just to look at its feet, so using an already deceased gecko would suffice to conduct adequate research.
Studying these feet and conducting research has led to the development of many new products, but I chose one that I found especially intriguing. New strapless bras that use “GeckTech” by Kellie K Apparel use the science behind gecko feet to revolutionize the strapless bra. These super-adhesive bras use technology inspired by gecko feet to avoid the constant hassle of having to pull up a bra because it won’t stay up. I think this new technology is genius. The hassle of constantly having to pull a strapless bra up because it can’t adhere to the body is definitely an annoying issue and this new technology is extremely smart and innovative as a solution to this common problem among women.
Gecko feet seem to have a legitimate impact on science and technology and I think it’s great that natural resources such as amphibians can be useful for things other than just understanding things like evolution and the food chain. A gecko can carry more information than we have ever considered in relation to science and technology. Who knows that else is out there to provide more innovative technological advancements.
What an interesting post! Who knew that gecko feet could revolutionize bra-wearing for the female race. It just goes to show you how odd the correlations in science can be sometimes. Another way geckos are helping technology is through an invention that will allow people to scale vertical walls. You may think that this is dumb and that we have more important science to focus on, but this could help soldiers and spies scale walls of buildings and forts. Also, this invention would just be a preliminary project for future astronaut boots that would help humans walk on other planets easier.