You should check out geck skin. It's also biomimicry but it's based on the relationship between skin and tendons as opposed to skin texture. I honestly don't fully understand it, but it doesn't require microscopic features which should make it easier to produce.
Hello Derek, I have an idea for a video. In chemistry, I learned that in redox reactions, electrons transfer, but it was never quite explained how or why exactly they do it. I would love a video about this process, which I found out is explained using quantum mechanics. That way, I might finally understand how the electrochemical potential table forms and why different organisms are an-/aerobic on a deeper level. If you (not Derek) read this and also wonder how this works, I would appreciate if you could give this comment a push so that Derek sees it. Thanks, keep up the good work, and greetings from Switzerland. Alejandro
I remember people telling me gecko tape would NEVER be possible, even the guy inventing this tape says so, but he still persisted and they developed something that comes pretty close to it. This is amazing! Another dream come true
@Gon for some reason your reply was also auto deleted by the looks of it. anyway, you are right, but I'm decently confident that in this context it will be fairly linear
@uncropped soop Development is not linear, nor is it always necessarily in ascension. You don't know that, and no one knows that. For all we know, we could go extinct tomorrow. Even in less dramatic outcomes, it is not necessarily so simple, it could take more than we'll ever manage to develop. Of course that it could very well happen in a few years, but so did nuclear fusion plants...
I hope one day this technology is adapted as plasters/medical tape. My newborn requires an NG tube for feeding and we have to tape it to his cheek, but he is allergic to adhesive and we are now in a battle over managing his poor skin degrading. It makes me happy to think how future families in similar situations could benefit from this concept.
Thanks so much to Derek and team for visiting our lab! This was a great video on our gecko-inspired adhesives, and the best explanation yet of Van der Waals forces.
Follow up to my comment about my grandfather, I sent him this video and he sent me this back 😀 "Thanks I traveled to Brownsville, Texas to collect specimens off the glass walls of the airport terminal building. This was the point of entry into the US probably on imported fruit. We examined the toe of one under a microscope. So I knew of the toe pads in 1967 but did not have the Knowledge of how Van derwald forces worked here. It all makes perfect sense. When you pry one off the glass you had to push it toward its tail and it would just fall off."
Hey, if anyone is reading this comment, it would mean the world to me if we can get Derek to make a video on the Nobel Prize winners! I believe it was on quantum entanglement ( Which I am sure Derek has done a video in the past about) but to get a new refresher on that type of content with the way Derek explains things would be absolutely amazing!!! I cant do this without people liking this comment so PLEASE ITS UP TO YOU! Imagine the animations! Imagine the explanations! We love you!
Would love to see you try to climb with that. I've heard of the attempt or idea at least of using the principle of how Geckos climb many years ago, but no one really knew how it worked as you mentioned so I'm really happy to see such a big step forward not only in the understanding but also application of this principle that was a mystery and challenge for so long.
I remember learning about the science of gecko feet when watching Wild Kratts in kindergarten. So surprised and happy to see it pop up on Dr.Muller's channel again!
It’s crazy how complex technology exists within nature. It’s like a talk I’ve heard once from reading an article once on how anti gravity is what causes a scarab beetle to fly. Scientifically, It’s body is too heavy for the wings to support that much weight. But it still flies somehow. Nature is crazy.
I LOVE that you've published this. My nine year old has started a new theme at school this month, called biomimicry... I'm going to show this video to her; she'll love it.
The way the short for this video is being used is the best way I’ve ever seen a short being used. Basically a sample of the first part of the video, instead of some 1/30 part short compilation. Would be great if all CS-vidrs did it this way.
I can see a lot of applications for this stuff. Mountain climbers would love this when you’re just starting, builders would find this useful when trying to set up a safety line, heck I can even envisioning spec ops use these as well. Not only that, think of all the possibilities for that stuff.
When I was between 8-10ish, I got a children’s science magazine and I clearly remember it talking about how someday there would be self-healing plastic, and how we’d be able to print physical objects, and how a material was being developed that could protect a rose from a blowtorch with just a thin layer. Now, about 20 years later, if I bought a piece of aerogel (which is amazingly something one can do for about $50), I would have all three of those inventions in my home.
this is absolutely amazing! a professor of inorganic chemistry i had in college used geckos to explain van de waals forces. He went on saying that geckos used the induced dipoles to attach themselves to walls, but weak as those forces are, they were not enough to make a new substance, or else we would end up with some "wall geckoate" (free translation) everytime a gecko climbs something
Man. This seems so cool and awesome. I can think of actual practical applications this might have and in about 5 years from now, this might be in our lives in ways unimaginable. Veritasium is one of my favourite channel on YT. Loved the video absolutely!
It would be interesting to see if it holds almost as well in vacuum. It might be that under athmospheric conditions the air between the pad an the surface is pushed out almost completely and that the air pressure on the outside pushes the pad to the surface.
Thanks so much to Derek and team for visiting our lab! This was a great video on our gecko-inspired adhesives, and the best explanation yet of Van der Waals forces.
No wonder a mere "geek science" channel has 13.3M subscribers. The wonders are a scientist/s were smart enough to figure this out as well as realise real world applications for it. The other is that nature never stops teaching. Endlessly fascinating. Thank you.
@pyropulse by no means is the dipolar interpretation of the atom basic stuff. it only becomes dipolar because of the influence from another atom. two atoms in close proximity affect each other’s charge distribution. the negative charges of the electrons are outside of the protons and so will move to cause electrostatic attraction. that is van der waals.
@Jesus is God, All I’m saying is that searching out a science related channel to post religious mythology makes you look completely out of touch. We’re not going to be convinced of your nonsense and you’ll be ridiculed for it by most of us. Notice the thread here and see how the Christians have been scoffed as nothing but socially unaware misfits? It would be like me going to a “Born again Christian” channel and preaching the truth about evolution. I’d be attacked, I’d convince nobody, so I don’t do that since a waste of time. And that’s because I’m self-aware and socially aware. You’re obviously not. You’re obviously a masochist though, since you seem to enjoy being shamed. Look that one up in your Bible?
@Sean Callahan There is no argument, we're just having a conversation and you are the one that initiated the conversation so if you didn't come here to talk about God, stop replying to me. Maybe once the powers that be require everyone in the world to take a mark in order to buy food you'll believe...Coming very soon. Don't take it. Revelation 14:11 KJV And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
It would be cool to make gloves out of this so that you could pick up anything. But I also am curious weather or not this material could attach to something slightly slimy, and if not the proper way, then what about the reverse way. Would the ridges hold on to something slimy or rough better than turning it the other way?
Definitely want a gecko suit now. On another thought, could tires be made of this stuff? I'd be interested in seeing how long the tread would last, or if pavement is just too rough for it to work at all.
This is really cool, I remember about 5 years ago I was touring UMass Amherst where they have a Geckskin lab. They used kevlar or carbon fiber backing with polyurethane or PDMS as the polymer for gripping the surface. It was super cool to see in action and I didn't know other universities were doing similar things
I _LOVE_ that you've published this. My nine year old has started a new theme at school this month, called biomimicry... I'm going to show this video to her; she'll love it.
@AtBZ 🧤 Because if that was my child, I'd be proud of my child. And want to make them happier. And share the happiness with others, because the world is a slightly better place having known.
@6th Wilbury 9-year olds are very often interested in biomimicry. How could you not be? It's adults that take the amazing designs around us for granted... maybe because they were taught to just blow it off as a product of random accidents.
@AtBZ 🧤 No kidding. My kids had a unit on biomimicry as well. It's pretty much a standard thing that they teach in elementary school these days. I have helped BOTH my daughters still in regular old public elementary schools do projects on the amazing designs of the world around us. Everything from the remarkable strength to weight ratio of the Toucan's beak, to the kingfisher's beak's inspiration for Japan's bullet trains. Intelligent humans design things around them all the time... and although generally far inferior to the the natural designs around us, still impressive and starts with curiosity.
I think it’s amazing how much utility this can have there commercial scale robots to pull stuff but also can be a consumer product like a product to hand stuff
This is so beautiful! I know it’s stupid but I was crying and smiling watching this. Science, art and philosophy, to me, are the greatest examples of how fantastically amazing we humans can be. When we want to. Thanks for the video. It made my day!
My grandfather has a PhD in zoology and biology. I'll never forget the day when he showed me a scientific journal entry with a picture of this and how fascinating they were to him. He is an ichthyologist, so it wasn't his area of expertise; however, there were always some facts he could add to a situation or story, and how he described that truly humbled me at the time and still does. I credit my grandfather for my curiosity and thank creators like you for making me extremely proud of him, highlighting fascinating things in our universe, and invigorating those who are hungry for more knowledge. Thank you.
@ConservativeRiot I used to be a devout Christian as well. I used to study the Bible quite a lot, and I still go to church every week (not by free will). My perspective changed and I no longer saw the religion the same way I did as a child. I'm now much happier and found a new way to appreciate life, so no need to convince me to go back. Thanks for being respectful, have a great day, just be mindful of where to talk about religion so that people are more willing to listen.
@Alexandrite I used to be an enemy of God as well. I hope he opens your eyes like He did mine. At least a couple people liked my comment. I can't help but to see God's wonderful design anymore and there's nothing wrong with pointing it out. Thank you, have a wonderful day.
@HE’S coming soon I'll say this to you too. Inserting religion into an unrelated conversation is precisely the way to make people less likely to accept what you said. It's a situation of "nobody asked," and if you want to spread your religion, go to somewhere that actually wants to discuss religion, spirituality, and the possibilites of the supernatural. Be smart if you're really trying to "do God's work."
Could this be used on tires to give better traction on conditions like heavy rain? Instead of like ur tape where u have the sheer force needed toward each other u inverse that so as the tire squishes against ground from weight of vehicle it pushes the small fingers out giving additional traction it otherwise wouldn't of had.
I LOVE that you've published this. My nine year old has started a new theme at school this month, called biomimicry... I'm going to show this video to her; she'll love it.
I remember in one of my nanotechnology courses at university around 2012 one of the physics lecturers told us about people investigating this sort of technology. Amazing to see it in action.
✝️ LORD JESUS DIED & ROSE AGAIN TO PAY THE DEBT OF UR SIN! ✅By Faith in the sacrifice God has made are we saved from the penalty of sin! 🔵Turn from your sin that leads to death & accept His Gift that leads to eternal Life! 💜We are all sinners that need God. No one can say they are perfect to be able to pay their debt of sin. This is why only God could pay the penalty for us, that is merciful Love!
Kinda shows how University can have a place, but it ends up being a fraction of our lives in many cases. Uni didn't really say we'd move on and never need them, for reasons.
I appreciate the higher atomic physics, and the general application, but... another way of looking at this material and phenomena is a mixture of tensile and compression force, not unlike those experienced by an airplane wing. In fact, i notice the bending ridges resemble the latter quite closely. The tape forms a 'ring' of tensile pressure on the tomato, and the tomato skin attempts to resist and forms an expanding compression force. This creates a ton of friction, and similar to a top, is centered around the moment of inertia (Pls correct me if I use the wrong term. I'm not used to sharing my thoughts.) or the draw string. Geckos likely counter this by using the stabilization in their limbs to counteract the natural contours of a surface, even one as fine as glass. They maintain a second layer of torque in their body which they can use like a gyroscope so that they can control the angle of their limbs and sustain the cycle. From there, the nuclear force (still loose on the specific names, sry.) is enough to suspend the moment into the flesh (or tape) and glass. Counter spins that sandwich the glass and gecko skin together. Dang, oversimplified. I almost make it sound like geckos are developing extra dimensional storage or something.
One should always drape something over a winch cable, under tension. Granted, there wasn't much tension in play simply tugging a car on a level surface, but, still...
Great video! Van der Walls Force is incredible but be Warned once you want to calculate the energy in the interaction from an appropriate Hamiltonian you will see what a nightmare it can be but anyways still very cool stuff
I have heard of Gecko tape for years and YEA I could have searched it but by the time I got around to it I had forgotten about it. Then you stepped in and said This guy needs to hear about it and made this video and to that I say thank you :) But seriously I have always wondered about it but for some reason I never researched it.. going to have to make notes and then actually do the searches :) This stuff is wild.. I would say after what I seen There is no way to hang from a ceiling ??? (unless you use the pulled in force like the 3 or 4 finger gripper. )
This exact effect was the reason I studied materials science in my masters. It's just incredible how far we have come, that we are able to use such effects on materials that *.*
@Sean Kane as they say in the video, what they can do is a very raw bad approx of what a gecko can. I would say they do not more than a mere 5-10% (i am being optimistic) and so, the possibilities are HUGE. We need to learn how to build something purely from a DNA.. like a cell does. Crispr is great to modify DNA, but to have a sheet of "gecko foot" made from the Gecko DNA (and then even improving it!) is pure science fiction nowadays. Having this capability will open the "God door" with unimaginable possibilities. We are so so far from that (50 years?)
@Enorazza Right? I'm so curious how much better is the gecko than the artificial version, considering we seem to be able to fill the same surface area. Is it something like 80% as good, 95% as good? What if it were like half as good as the gecko? Crazy to think of the possibilities were that the case and we just need to iterate on the processes
@hades I'd imagine so if the vinyl sheets mentioned use this force, but I have noticed some that are noticeably sticky one one side so perhaps some indeed use a thin adhesive in some fashion
The first min i had a guess for an image of how this works exactly in my brain. I was happy watching the video because i was literally spot on 100% 😂 maybe i am a gecko after all 😅
It would be useful to know how long this stuff lasts. I can imagine the surfaces getting clogged with dust particles thus rendering it useless. What about wear and tear, cleaning and maintenance? I guess this was omitted because it does not last usefully long enough to be of any practical use. Still, a worthy video to watch till the end.
So the cool thing about the gecko tape is that it is actually self-cleaning. Of course at this stage not to the point of real gecko skin (which actually becomes more effective the more it's used), but it still self cleans. So dust would not be much of a problem. As for wear and tear, I believe it is about as strong as typical tape. The main caveat is simply the fact that it works mainly on smooth surfaces only.
that stuff is amazing. great combination of surface physics chemistry and mechanics all inspired by nature. Would be very interesting to see if we couldn't 'grow' something similar to the tiny fibrils the gecko's feet use.
When I first played Call of Duty: Black Ops II, I thought the Nano Gloves that were use to stick to the sides of cliffs were cool, but that surely they couldn't exist anywhere near as early as 2025. I now think (and hope) they may be possible in the somewhat near future lol
Imagine a gecko suit. (Where the palms and feet) are covered in heck adhesive (you’d use gecko feet to help you support your whole body weight but you’d get some training with a safety net in a safe area before actually scaling buildings first of course)
Kinda makes me wonder in terms of prosthetics if it could be used to give a better grip feedback. Rather than crushing an object due to mechanical forces. You'd need only a little friction force.
Wouldn't the metal Gauge blocks stick together due to metallic bonds, not Van der Waals? I'd think rubbing them together damages the thin oxide layer, allowing for partial metal on metal contact and, thus, metallic bonds can form (i.e. cold welding). Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
I'm just imagining putting some of this on pretty much anything and setting it anywhere on the wall without sticky adhesives, nails, screws, etc. It seems like it would be extremely practical given it isn't too expensive to manufacture. Where can you buy this, anyway?
Such intricacy on a micro level is mind blowing, and amazingly it is all by design. The amount of times I’ve heard scientists believe in God because of these factors is wonderful. God’s power and attention to detail is so beyond human understanding, praise The Lord!
Hey, can you make a video explaining how astronomers calculate the movement of a celestial body. Especially the orbits, velocity, the position at certain time. I am very interested in this. 😄 🪐
I'm surprised how creative the team got when manufacturing the material/characterizing the force. I thought it would be closer to the methods of silicon etching and nanostructure growing
@hazonku I suspect a metal mold will not release the silicone without micro-tears of the tiny ridges which will ruin the gripping properties. And at the tiny scale they are working in prohibits using a mold release agent which would take too much space. I think the main draw of using wax is that it will easily release and separate from the silicone once cured
Very cool tech. It's hard to improve upon evolution, regardless of how advanced our technology has become. I'd love to see the day when these fine structures (spatula) can be accurately replicated.
I can imgaine this being on regular "better quality" work gloves in a decade or two, it would very useful for most professions and significantly improve safety, for some applications it could be a gamechanger
Good ol’ Van der Waals forces. I actually shared an SEM once with a grad student who was studying gecko feet for a similar research project. Super cool!
I have read a paper from a team of umass Amherst. They are doing a similar project 10 years ago. Very interesting and impressive work. I am a phd chemist and i always want to go back to university to do more advanced research than I am doing now.
Years on after leaving school and I am continuously impressed by the quality of the content you provide for free that far exceeds most institutions. It’s just amazing how simply you explain concepts in a quarter of an hour.
You got me standing in awe with just the fact that the non-sticky tape sticks to surfaces depending on its orientation and holds very well judging by the objects you were hanging. Absolutely mind-boggling. There has to be a caveat for wide range use, hasn't there? If not, this will be perhaps the number one future technology. In my eyes it will be one of those turning points where you can reminisce how you saw history change in your lifetime.
It's basically like a cat's tongue. Rough in one direction, not in others. For instance, climbing a building, you have to be VERY careful not to have a strong sideways force or you fall off.
As with most things now-a-days the only use case that I can think of (beyond bankrupting Command Strips) is: replacing me with a robot, or more effectively spying on me with a robot. I remember watching a video equivalent to this one a decade ago... If I transported myself from 10 years ago to today, it would just be a cruel joke. I would literally feel sorry for myself.
Ah yes, the Gecko EVOLVED to do that XD With all our technology we are able to only make a crude imitation of this tiny creature’s amazing powers. The idea this thing just evolved to do that is ridiculous
@notahotshot Given I actively factored communication out of that statement, I'm definitely not confusing the two. Only the first point I made was about ease of communication. My second statement - the one you quoted - was not about communication. Plus precision doesn't come from standardization; ease of communication does, which you supposedly think has nothing to do with precision. On top of which, you're mis-attributing the word nomenclature. What you call the measurements is irrelevant to how the system works or which values are used for scaling. The odd nomenclature doesn't reinforce or dissolve either of our points, so I don't see why you feel the need to remind me of it. As for the creation of the metric system - people make new systems because it's easier to get people to bandwagon onto a new thing than it is to change how they use an old thing. I'm aware that it had nothing to do with precision at the time, which is why I didn't make that argument. On the other hand, that doesn't mean that metric - as we know it today - is less precise. The reason Imperial is naturally less precise is because every unit has it's an individual scalar value. Every time you have to translate between those scales, there's a risk of a translation error, which grows exponentially every time you switch unit. And that's not a communication thing - that's a maths thing. The same risk holds true for digital computation. You're clearly stuck on the idea of minutiae aspect of precision rather than accuracy, and if you want to say that the thou is more precise than a millimetre, then I'd agree (before reminding you of nanometres and all the other units smaller than 0.1 thou), but the Imperial system *as a whole* is imprecise when compared to the metric system *as a whole.*
@Samurai Pipotchi "That's naturally more precise." No, it's not. You're confusing ease of communication with precision within the system. Precision comes from standardization, and from how finely divided your measurements are, not how you name them. I can divide imperial measurements just as finely as you can divide metric. The issue with imperial was that the length of the measurements were not standardized. Rather than getting everyone to agree on how to define the length of a yard, a new measurement, the meter, was devised, and the base measurement defined. Then the measurement was later redefined multiple times. Because of the natural inaccuracy of the definitions used. The world could have just as easily standardized on imperial, if an agreement on how to define the measurements could have been reached. Note that I did say, in my previous comment, that the nomenclature could have been better.
@notahotshot Because it's true for a lot of us. I'm in the UK. Our tools use mm adjustments - just like almost every non-english speaking country. Trying to describe which metric adjustment you need while using imperial terms is going to lead to a natural imprecision. There's also the benefit that metric technically only has one unit of measurement and the terminology just specifies where we're putting the decimal place. That's naturally a more precise system than one that changes it's scaling based on which unit you're using.
@Samurai Pipotchi "Metric is necessary when it comes to precision measurements..." Why do people make this claim? I can divide imperial measurements in as fine an increment as needed to get as accurate a measurement as required. The nomenclature could have been better for the divisions, but the nomenclature has no effect on the level of accuracy possible.
I remember I had a heated discussion with my father because he wouldn't believe gekos didn't have "suckers" in their feet to climb glass. It took a week of images and explanatio convincing him. This is perfect and will sum up everything. Awesome video.
Yes, Derek. I do want to see you climb something using gecko socks. One question, regardless of how strong the grip is, the material it's made of has to be strong enough to with stand the weight of what it's pulling doesn't it? So what are those strips made of that can withstand the weight of a car between just 4 of them?
You could do the same thing with regular duct tape, since there's not a lot of force involved, but the op provides a valid point. If one were to use this for lifting any meaningful amount of weight, the material will need to be far stronger.
Keep in mind the idea that the tape is “pulling” the weight of car is a little misleading. It’s not like the tape needs to hold the weight of a 3000lb sedan. All you need to do to pull a car on flat ground is to overcome the rolling resistance of the car while it is in neutral. For a 3000lbs sedan that might be something like 50-100lbs. This is an amount of force humans can easily provide hence why you’ll see people pushing their car when stuck or out of gas.
Les bandelettes n'ont pas à supporter le poids de la voiture mais la force de traction et elles sont plusieurs pour se partager cette force donc elles n'ont pas besoin d'être très solide.
wow amazing, I love geckoes, they had to bring themselves up with no parental guidance, maybe that is why they can climb and walk up walls, upside down on ceilings, nobody told them they couldn't....when I say parental guidance, I mean material of course, geckoes show me that our Creator is a genius....the King of Science, GOD
It is truly amazing what we can do with 'babies first imitation' of nature. It's so exciting to see breakthroughs like this, can't wait to see where this tech goes in the future.
@RevanJager Gaming GR is a theory in a scientific sense of the term “theory”, same as QFT and synthetic evolution. Theories which are checkable by evidence don’t get disproven, they have their bounds mapped in more detail. Like newtonial gravity, for example: it is quite applicable though it gets superceded by GR when the accuracy is too low for applications. On the other hand there are hypotheses which are usually held as something almost not tested at all but seeming to look good. This is a hard distinction only in maths where there exists the ultimate “evidence”-proof-unattainable to sciences (because reality doesn’t speak to us directly in human languages), but there is still soft evidence which makes us formulate hypotheses and intuitions like in science. But outside math there’s kinda grey zone between hypotheses and theories. Hypotheses are usually singular statements and are often in bounds of a theory or another; theories are more comprehensive buildings. So for hypotheses there is sense to say they get disproven and thrown out; contemporary theories just are adjusted by more data to make better predictions; or they end up inapplicable for new situations but they remain valid in tested cases. And despite word usage, we don’t yet have anything better than scientific theories to explain what’s likely and unlikely to be experienced. So I won’t use words “just a theory” anytime soon. Ethic systems and some other things of worldview are of course not theories of this kind but oftentimes they go nicely with each other. And there _is_ place for belief not based in evidence but I’d think just because our psychology just not good enough. We need to have something self-centering or life gets bleak, so throw some almost unconditional affirmations in the mix and it works. But the world doesn’t conform to those affirmations of ours. It is just to make us comfy.
@0.5 degrees "Quantum field theory and modern synthetic evolution theory are correct." Inherent flaw in this statement is that they are theories. Inherently unproven therefore not correct. That's what a theory is. While general relativity is a proven law, not a theory. I'm not attacking you. I'm just pointing out that you have faith that evolution is real. While I have faith that there is a grand designer. Kind of like in your below comment where you mentioned natural 'designs'. Evolution can't design anything. It's all accidents and natural selection. If there is a 'natural design', someone had to design it. Just something to think about 😁
@Daddy Fuse Well natural design of us humans certainly _does_ have huge flaws like inconceivable hubris, doesn’t it? Do you have evidence I can’t name a single design that doesn’t have a better natural counterpart? (We’ll even drop the “immeasurably more efficient” part.) What have made you believe I can’t? Oh I won’t, definitely, because I assess that starting right with this claim, you’ll likely not accept any example I’ll give. That won’t make you right, though, that’ll just make you possessing less evidence about the world that you could otherwise.
I’d like to believe the world is centered around humans and there is a higher authority which would solve our problems and vindicate all I’ve done personally. But this is just empty wishes. And these wishes are unfortunately natural for humans to have. So I acknowledge such thoughts happen and proliferate but I don’t agree with listening to them and not trying to check, check and overcheck, and trusting some people at least a bit too, as no one has too much time to check ALL before believing it, yet. Please don’t see patterns where there are none, we humans are prone to that. Please trust in humanity because there is likely no other entities nearby in space who care about us. We need to try to be forgiving to others’ mistakes (which are unavoidable too), leave room for ours and trust in science a bit. You don’t need to become a scientist, just don’t make their PR harder. They are fallible people like us all. And, well, general relativity, quantum field theory and modern synthetic evolution theory _are_ correct; as correct as it usually goes. These are just pretty hard to grasp in their full, so either one amuses themselves with popular science or works hard to understand the thing in more detail, and only then do they have instruments to do vigorous correct checking. And you’ll need to be good in statistics too, which is a small hell. Statistics isn’t intuitive.
So, can this be used for a super efficient belt drive with zero slip? Seeing belt drives are the least efficient means of transmitting rotary energy compared to gears and chain drive...but belt drives are way quiter and with tech like this could also measure up in efficiency.
This gecko adhesive is incredible. It literally looks like magic and like it breaks the laws of physics by making use of quantum phenomenon that we rarely experience in everyday life.
Knowing nothing going in, I definitely did not expect the mechanism to be something on the atomic level. Super, super cool, and really demonstrates how much more there is to the world than the everyday experience we have of it!
One question I came away with is: are the Gecko toes directional like the artificial material, or is their structure so fine that they don't need to flatten in order to stick?
@N C If you don't mind me saying, that is an entirely unsafe conclusion. I can understand how you might categorise individuals as being creative or precise, without realising that some are both. One never quite knows who is contributing to these threads.. but thanks for your comment.
@andrew cobb If you need to focus that hard on a missing apostrophe, it's safe to say 'combing for arbitrary missed characters in comment sections' might be your skill set, whereas mine is more 'having thoughts and knowing things.'
@N C we're not the experts in this matter so our deal is to assume. You can not make conclusions from the photo either. So you are assuming things too. Am I wrong?
Thank you for showing this tech, i always wanted to know insects, geckos climb and build projects like that, I researched but everyone talked about only Suction cu which is not always helpful.. This is really informative and useful!
1:05 as a fellow scientist, you can tell this professor practised how to explain his work in just 1 minute. this is his branding statement that he has refined over years and years of research and iteration with a branding statement like this, he can get funding, recruit students, and inspire other researchers all in under 1 minute just a side observation that I thought I can share. this branding statement is as much virtuoso as playing a hard piece on a violin
@Ithecastic this isn't at all how university research works and you have a massively skewed perspective of what D.I.E. represents :) what is your experience with university research and what led you to have this thought?
Is this the stuff that was used for phone accesories over the last 15 years? I remember marketing using the gecko buzzword for these products a ton. Amazing material.
Thanks for a very informative video. The Gecko tape was tested on the ISS, I wonder what properties were demonstrated in zero g that could not be discovered in 1g?
Hi Veritasium and comment readers, my dad has recently explained to me how if to light beams leave from a point in opposite direction, according to general relativity they are moving at the speed of light. Shouldn’t it be twice the speed of light? Could you please make a video on this or elaborate this for me? Could any of you bring this up to him because it is really messing with my mind.
When I was in School, about 15 years ago, we had this book "Geko's Foot" in our library, it was full of how amazing and fascinating the Geko's foot was! The ideas discussed in the book are now a reality! Science does make progress!
@Robert Pruitt I mean it is easier to sit your ass at home and demand progress when you are not the one at work. We tend to see scientific and technological advancement as something that is bound to happen and that we are 100% entitled to. Although it's like it's almost impossible to slow its pace down now 'cause many hands are on deck, these things have always been done by people like ourselves and they actually take time. It's just that successful ones are easy to spot than thousand of the unknown, failed procedures leading to successful ones.
@Earthling six billion something and one Things have always taken quite a while. We just didn't hear about the research until it was getting close to market. We might be more advanced than in decades past, but we're also doing more complicated things. It took NASA 20 years to get JWST done. But they had to invent half a dozen new technologies and advance them enough to be usable in space. It took 11 years to make the Blu-ray. Even though it's just a DVD with a different color laser and new programming. It was 80 years after the invention of the fridge before you could buy one in a store.
La naturaleza una vez más le demuestra a la humanidad, la perfección de sus mecanismos que fueron pulidos durante millones de años. Solo de esa manera la humanidad será capaz de avanzar tecnológicamente. La innovación está allí, solo que no hemos sido capaces de entenderla en un totalidad.
I love how the technique they use for manufacturing this stuff is dead simple on a small scale. Their machine is quite large for the precission, so that's definitely where it gets to an impressive level of engineering, but if you wanted a few millimeters of the stuff, sub-micron precission is super easy to obtain at that level with enough gearing! This gives a lot of hope for the availability of this stuff. I'm sure people will also revolutionize the way it's manufactured to increase the effectiveness, but for this method; basically dead easy and awesome!
Would it be possible to grow actual Gecko hairs on some artificial material using live cells from a gecko? If I understood correctly, once the hair has grown, it's not a living thing (similar to human hair).
