Everyone knows the gecko in Reunion. Or rather the margouillat, as it is called here. And his extraordinary ability to move upside down, glued to the ceiling.
American scientists have succeeded in unraveling this mystery. It has been known for several years that the tips of the legs of geckos are equipped with millions of setules, elastic microscopic hairs, arranged in a certain order and ending in the shape of a spatula.
This microstructure allows the margouillat to follow the shape of the surface on which it moves.
Researchers from the NIST (American National Institute of Standards and Technology) for their part discovered, using an X-ray microscope, that the setulae and their spatulas were covered with a greasy film one nanometer thick, one billionth of a meter.
These lipids, which protect tissues against dehydration, could also play a key role thanks to their hydrophobic nature. By repelling any water molecules, they would provide the spatulas “closer contact with the surface”said Tobias Weidne, a chemist at the Danish University of Aarhus, and co-author of the study, quoted in a press release from NIST and reproduced by the journal nice morning. the whole “may help geckos cling to moist surfaces”according to him.
The researchers are now considering applications for this discovery in everyday life. How about boots that don’t slip on wet ground or gloves capable of holding wet tools? Other studies will still be necessary, however, in order to know exactly the usefulness of this film of lipids.