If a certain animated spokeslizard ever finds himself feeling as though he’s done all he can in the world of insurance, he’ll probably find fruitful new territory in pitching adhesive tape. As reported by The New York Times, a team of West Coast scientists has unlocked the secret of the gecko’s wall-climbing sticky feet and have applied the principle to the development of a new adhesive tape that is not only strong, but reusable, and could hit the shelves and our utility drawers within a few short years.
How the gecko’s gravity-defying method of getting around works rests on the millions of microscopic hairs that line the bottom of its feet. At the end of each hair rests a tip that sticks to the surface it touches but leaves no trace of sticky stuff behind when removed. Research into the physical principles at play in gecko perambulation performed by scientists at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and the University of California Berkeley inspired another scientist, Stanford University’s Mark Cutkosky, to develop an adhesive tape based on the findings. As The Times reports, his prototype was sufficiently effective to allow Keller Autumn, the Lewis & Clark scientist whose work lead to the breakthrough, to stick his 8-year-old, 50-pound daughter to a window with it.
In the two short years since this development, some 50 patent applications have been crafted and submitted that all rely on the application of gecko feet adhesion to new products. And while conventional adhesive technology has made gains in tapes that can be used and removed without leaving a stick residue (blue painter’s tape is one notable example), the gecko-inspired tape technology is seen as pointing to a range of useful new products that are impressively strong, reusable and non-damaging to the surfaces they touch.
“Imagine hanging a picture on the wall with reusable gecko tape that doesn’t leave a residue or damage the wall — it’s like a thumbtack, but doesn’t leave a hole,” says Autumn, as quoted by The Times. He adds: “The technology is ready to move from research to development. I think we are no more than three to five years from the first commercial products.”
We’re not holding our collective breath that the critter’s ability to clean its own eyeball with its tongue will lead to any household-friendly breakthroughs, but unlocking and applying the gecko’s feet of strength seems worth sticking around for.
Photo by Furryscaly via Flickr.