News tagged with geckos
Dry printing of nanotube patterns to any surface could revolutionize microelectronics
(PhysOrg.com) -- Watch a gecko walk up a wall. It defies gravity as it sticks to the surface no matter how smooth it appears to be.
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jan 22, 2010 |
4.9 / 5 (28) |
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Inspired by gecko feet, scientists invent super-adhesive material
For years, biologists have been amazed by the power of gecko feet, which let these 5-ounce lizards produce an adhesive force roughly equivalent to carrying nine pounds up a wall without slipping. Now, a team ...
Feb 16, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (17) |
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New gecko insights inspire even stronger adhesives
At first glance, a gecko skittering up a wall and a flat-screen television attached to the same wall have little in common.
Mar 14, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
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Detached gecko tails dance to their own tune
Geckos and other lizards have long been known for their incredible ability to shed their tails as a decoy for predators, but little is known about the movements and what controls the tail once it separates ...
Sep 09, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
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From nature, robots
(PhysOrg.com) -- To a robot designer like Sangbae Kim, the animal kingdom is full of inspiration. "I always look at animals and ask why they are the way they are," says Kim, an assistant professor of mechanical ...
Sep 25, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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NanoYou Film Talks Tiny
How tiny is 'Tiny'? Well it's nano, and nano is everywhere. It gives butterflies their colour and geckos their sticky feet; it can make water-proof plants and honey-proof spoons; help us cure diseases and help stop climate ...
May 05, 2010 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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Reproducing nanoscale surfaces with adhesion properties similar to gecko footpad
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Northeastern and Korean universities collaborate on developing a surface that mimics lizard?s footpad for extraordinary adhesive quality
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jun 29, 2010 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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Copying geckos’ toes
Geckos are famous for their ability to walk up walls and scamper across ceilings. The dry-adhesive surface of geckos’ toes has inspired many attempts to copy this ability in an artificial material. Isabel ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 05, 2011 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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First metallic nanoparticles resistant to extreme heat
A University of Pittsburgh team overcame a major hurdle plaguing the development of nanomaterials such as those that could lead to more efficient catalysts used to produce hydrogen and render car exhaust less toxic. The researchers ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
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British team builds model showing metamaterials could be used to create gecko toe like adhesion
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have long been enamored by the gecko’s gravity defying ability to cling to walls and to let go at will, allowing it to walk around sideways, as have Spiderman enthusiasts. ...
Jan 27, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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'Gecko vision': Key to the multifocal contact lens of the future?
Nocturnal geckos are among the very few living creatures able to see colors at night, and scientists' discovery of series of distinct concentric zones may lead to insight into better cameras and contact lenses.
May 07, 2009 |
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Fanged frog, 162 other new species found in Mekong
(AP) -- A gecko with leopard-like spots on its body and a fanged frog that eats birds are among 163 new species discovered last year in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia, an environmental group said ...
Sep 25, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (6) |
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Mozilla to go after Android, Apple with cheap phone OS
Mozilla, which brought the free web browser Firefox to the masses, now wants to do the same for mobile users, with a new open source operating system that could drastically slash smartphone prices.
Feb 28, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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Nanowrinkles, nanofolds yield strange hidden channels
Wrinkles and folds are ubiquitous. They occur in furrowed brows, planetary topology, the surface of the human brain, even the bottom of a gecko's foot. In many cases, they are nature's ingenious way of packing ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 23, 2011 |
3.4 / 5 (5) |
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Rare gecko seen on NZ mainland for first time in century
New Zealand's largest gecko has been seen on one of the country's main islands for the first time in almost a century -- unfortunately, dead in a mousetrap, an official said Thursday.
Apr 22, 2010 |
4 / 5 (4) |
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Gecko
Aeluroscalabotinae Eublepharinae Gekkoninae Teratoscincinae Diplodactylinae
Geckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae, found in warm climates throughout the world. Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos. An estimated 2,000 different species of geckos exist worldwide, with many likely yet to be discovered. The name stems from the Indonesian/Javanese word Tokek, inspired by the sound these animals make. The Malay word for gecko is cicak.
All geckos, excluding the Eublepharinae family, have no eyelids and instead have a transparent membrane which they lick to clean. Many species will, in defense, expel a foul-smelling material and feces onto their aggressors. There are also many species that will drop their tails in defense, a process called autotomy. Many species are well known for their specialized toe pads that enable them to climb smooth and vertical surfaces, and even cross indoor ceilings with ease (it is believed that the van der Waal's force may contribute to this capability). These antics are well-known to people who live in warm regions of the world, where several species of geckos make their home inside human habitations. These species (for example the House Gecko) become part of the indoor menagerie and are often welcome guests, as they feed on insects, including mosquitoes.
The largest species, Delcourt's gecko, is only known from a single, stuffed specimen found in the basement of a museum in Marseille, France. This gecko was 60 cm long and it was native to New Zealand. It was probably wiped out along with much of the native fauna of these islands at the end of the 19th century, when new predators were introduced there. The smallest gecko, the Jaragua Sphaero, is a mere 16 mm long and was discovered in 2001 on a small island off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
For more information about Gecko, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
