Like sheets of paper marked with perforated lines, gecko tails have unique structural marks that help them sever their tails to make a quick getaway. Though voluntarily shedding a body part in this manner is a well-known ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 19, 2012
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Scientists are reporting a simple way to improve the sensitivity of the test often used to detect traces of explosives on the hands, carry-ons and other possessions of passengers at airport security screening stations. Their ...
Analytical Chemistry
Nov 14, 2012
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(Phys.org)—If you ease up on a pencil, does it slide more easily? Sure. But maybe not if the tip is sharpened down to nanoscale dimensions. A team of researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ...
Nanomaterials
Oct 17, 2012
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Cell-cell junctions are important for communication, transport, signalling, waste evacuation and water homeostasis. An European project has investigated how biophysical forces can influence the fulfilment of this vast range ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 19, 2012
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Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and University of Costa Rica asked why spiders do not stick to their own sticky webs. Repeating old, widely quoted but poorly documented studies with modern equipment ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 1, 2012
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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 of polymer scientists ...
Materials Science
Feb 16, 2012
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(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. Thus far, unfortunately, ...
Scientists have discovered how cells detect tissue damage and modify their repair properties accordingly. The findings, published today [6 October] in the journal Developmental Cell, could open up new opportunities for improving ...
Biochemistry
Oct 6, 2011
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Tree frogs have specially adapted self-cleaning feet which could have practical applications for the medical industry.
Plants & Animals
Jul 3, 2011
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CNST Project Leader Rachel Cannara and collaborators from the United States Naval Academy (USNA) and the University of Pennsylvania have shown that atomic-scale surface roughness has a strong influence on adhesion for diamond, ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 20, 2011
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