gecko
dr. dolittle | March 15, 2015
A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface from a team of researchers (University of the Sunshine Coast, James Cook University, University of Queensland, Australia, and the University of Oxford) described how geckos living in humid areas manage to stay dry.
The researchers used a scanning electron microscope to take a closer look at the skin of box-patterned geckos (Lucasium steindachneri), which is how they discovered the dense microscopic spiny hairs that are also found in other species of geckos. The hairs trap air and the tips of the hair help gather water into…
dr. dolittle | August 18, 2014Researchers at DARPA are using geckos to create biologically inspired methods of scaling vertical walls.
Check out this video demonstration of "Geckskin":
edyong | September 8, 2009When danger threatens many lizards can detach their tails, leaving them behind as decoys in the hope that the predator will attack it rather than the lizard itself. But the tail doesn't just lie there as bait. For half an hour after they've been severed, the disembodied tails perform a complex dance, flipping, lunging and jumping up to an inch in the air. These acrobatics serve to distract the predator even further.
For the first time, Timothy Higham and Anthony Russell have studied the movements of severed gecko tails to understand how they can move in such complex ways without any input…
grrlscientist | June 18, 2009tags: TEDTalks, biomimetics, biomutualism, biology, engineering, origin of flight, Robert Full, streaming video
Biologist Robert Full studies the amazing gecko, with its supersticky feet and tenacious climbing skill. But high-speed footage reveals that the gecko's tail harbors perhaps the most surprising talents of all. [12:27]
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on…
grrlscientist | November 8, 2008tags: Lepidodactylus buleli, new species discovered, Vanuatu gecko, reptiles, Ivan Ineich, Natural History Museum Paris France
French scientist, Ivan Ineich, displays a never-before-seen species of gecko at France's Natural History Museum in Paris. This gecko, formally described with the Latin name, Lepidodactylus buleli, was born in Paris from an egg that was removed from the rainforest canopy on the west coast of Espiritu Santo, one of the larger islands of the Vanuatu Archipelago, east of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean.
IMAGE: Francois Mori (AP Photo) [larger view].
According…
zooillogix | July 7, 2008StickyBot is a robot designed by researchers at Stanford Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab as part of the Robots in Scansorial Environments project (RiSE). The robotic gecko tests their hypotheses about the "requirements for mobility on vertical surfaces using dry adhesion. The main point is that we don't need more adhesion, we need controllable adhesion."
The site boils down the "key ingredients" as follows:
* hierarchical compliance for conforming at centimeter, millimeter and micrometer scales,
* anisotropic dry adhesive materials and structures so that we can…
edyong | March 17, 2008
Geckos are nature's champion climbers. With remarkable ease, they can scamper across ceilings and up smooth vertical surfaces, and they do so at speed. A vertically running gecko can cover 15 times the length of its body in a single second. So far, scientists have focused their attention on the gecko's amazingly adhesive feet but a new study demonstrates the importance of a neglected piece of their climbing gear - their tails. Geckos use their tails to stop themselves from falling, and to land safely if they do.
A gecko's foot is a marvel of biological engineering. Rather than relying on…
zooillogix | February 18, 2008Fascinating BBC footage of geckos coaxing leafhoppers to feed them honeydew. The lizards tap their feet or bob their heads, and the insect dutifully tosses them a bead of delicious tree sap. This definitely qualifies as bizarre zoology.
zooillogix | March 16, 2007In honor of St. Paddy's Day, a tribute to being green.
Northland Green Gecko, naultinus grayii
Green Lynx Spider, peucetia viridansGreen Hermit Hummingbird, phaethornis guy (we think)
Green Grasshopper, campylacantha olivacea