From fork-admin@xent.com Tue Aug 27 06:29:37 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: yyyy@localhost.netnoteinc.com Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by phobos.labs.netnoteinc.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0C77F43F99 for ; Tue, 27 Aug 2002 01:29:37 -0400 (EDT) Received: from phobos [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for jm@localhost (single-drop); Tue, 27 Aug 2002 06:29:37 +0100 (IST) Received: from xent.com ([64.161.22.236]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g7R5RvZ27153 for ; Tue, 27 Aug 2002 06:28:00 +0100 Received: from lair.xent.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 46DFA2941F9; Mon, 26 Aug 2002 22:25:10 -0700 (PDT) Delivered-To: fork@spamassassin.taint.org Received: from sccrmhc01.attbi.com (sccrmhc01.attbi.com [204.127.202.61]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id AA1B529409E for ; Mon, 26 Aug 2002 22:24:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: from Intellistation ([66.31.2.27]) by sccrmhc01.attbi.com (InterMail vM.4.01.03.27 201-229-121-127-20010626) with ESMTP id <20020827052553.DSDH11061.sccrmhc01.attbi.com@Intellistation> for ; Tue, 27 Aug 2002 05:25:53 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" From: Eirikur Hallgrimsson Organization: Electric Brain To: FoRK Subject: Gecko adhesion finally sussed. User-Agent: KMail/1.4.1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Message-Id: <200208270124.00426.eh@mad.scientist.com> Sender: fork-admin@xent.com Errors-To: fork-admin@xent.com X-Beenthere: fork@spamassassin.taint.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.11 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Friends of Rohit Khare List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 01:24:00 -0400 (Via Robot Wisdom) Maybe you UC folk know these people? http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-08/lcc-sph082202.php Working at Lewis & Clark College, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Stanford University, the interdisciplinary team: * confirmed speculation that the gecko's amazing climbing ability depends on weak molecular attractive forces called van der Waals forces, * rejected a competing model based on the adhesion chemistry of water molecules, and * discovered that the gecko's adhesive depends on geometry, not surface chemistry. In other words, the size and shape of the tips of gecko foot hairs--not what they are made of--determine the gecko's stickiness. To verify its experimental and theoretical results, the gecko group then used its new data to fabricate prototype synthetic foot-hair tips from two different materials. "Both artificial setal tips stuck as predicted," notes Autumn, assistant professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore. "Our initial prototypes open the door to manufacturing the first biologically inspired dry, adhesive microstructures, which can have widespread applications."