Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Gecko's Feet, Redux



John Stevens sent me this fabulous video he took of a gecko moving its foot, after reading my old post on gecko feet. Please note the backwards arrangement of its joints, so that the gecko can change the angle that the setae (the tiny hairs on their foot) touch the surface with, helping to shift the way the Van der Waal's force holds them there, and thus peel their foot away. John actually posted it on YouTube at my request -- many thanks!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The distinction you make here between Modernism and Postmodernism is right on the money. In my academic experience, very few of my professors and fellow students acknowledge a meaningful difference between the two. Sadly, some even disregard the term "Postmodern" entirely...