What is Gecko Tape?
Gecko tape is an experimental material developed in 2003 by an international team of scientists from the UK and Russia. It is a tape surface covered with nanoscopic hairs intended to maximize surface area. Gecko tape has not yet been perfected, but when it is, it could allow humans to walk on walls and ceilings like geckos. The gecko is an impressive creature. It can support its entire weight on a horizontal wall with only a single toe, which is minuscule compared to its body size. It can move faster than a meter per second along a molecularly smooth surface such as polished glass. The secret is in the van der Waals force, an intermolecular force that emerges when molecules behave like small magnets that get attracted towards each other. To exploit it well requires a lot of surface area, which gecko feet have. Gecko feet are covered in little hairs, which use capillary action as well as the van der Waals force to stick to walls. Each hair is about 200 to 500 nanometers wide. Only in th
