Magic Toes

Found a clutch of these cute little fellows up inside a yellow street lamp, a great place to catch insects navigating by the moon.

I first heard about the gecko’s amazing toes from Polypedal Prof. Full at TED. They can hang from perfectly smooth glass, wet or dry, and support their body weight with one toe touching. But the toes are not sticky; they can also climb those surfaces at a meter per second.

The nanostructured hairs at the tip of the gecko’s toes exploit the weak Van der Waals bonds at the molecular scale. It’s geometry, not surface chemistry that gives them adhesion… and inspires new designs for glue. (more info)

63 responses to “Magic Toes”

peterbox

Jun 2, 2008 at 5:26 pm

Incredible beautiful shot! Congratulations

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schoschie

Jun 3, 2008 at 10:22 am

Did I mention he’s cute? The gecko is teh cute.
(Excellent photo as well.)

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Shakir’s Photography

Aug 18, 2008 at 12:29 am

Love your picture!

Please consider joining our group and adding your photo’s to " ALL MEMORIES WELCOME (Public Group)"

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maarusss

Aug 27, 2008 at 6:50 pm

esaaa cosaaaaaaa
woooooooow

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C is for C Monster

Sep 7, 2008 at 3:43 pm

beautiful. i used to keep a pair of geckos. they’re amazing pets

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melcir.meri

Oct 22, 2008 at 1:30 am

This super cute image qualifies you to join and add this
— plus other qualifying images — to
***Earth Marvels ~ 50++ FAVES *** ~ Your FAVE+comment invited.
How many other images in your photosream now have 50++ FAVES? —
~ Share your Focus on ways to heal both people and planet!!!
Please copy / paste and tag, "EarthMarvels-50++EarthFAVES"
HERE’S TO A SUSTAINABLE GREEN PLANET EARTH"!!!

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melcir.meri

Oct 23, 2008 at 10:07 pm

Congrats for a truly magical Wilderness Conservation image!
This superb photo has gained 3 or more AWARDS in our group!!!
Please accept our special "***Earthcare ACTIONS!! ~
‘FIRST-THE EARTH!’ Volunteers Photo-ART group

RED ROSE BUTTERFLY AWARD
FOR AN EXCEPTIONAL EARTHCARE ACTIONS!! IMAGE!!!

This is our invitation to add this image to our group’s WINNERS CIRCLE!!!
URL – http://www.flickr.com/groups/first-the-earth/discuss/72157608253...
As EARTH is in crisis, help us change the future.
Help raise global awareness with your great images.
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Heal all life & our Home Planet.
Please copy / paste our tag, "firsttheearth",
HERE’S TO A GREEN ‘09 ~ YEAR OF SUSTAINABLE
ECO-ACTION ON PLANET EARTH!!!

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brief books

Feb 5, 2009 at 10:46 pm

Outstanding picture I must say!!!

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paulmcdee

Mar 7, 2009 at 2:28 am

I love the detail n the textures. They have amazing eyes, and the texture of your skin works great against his own!

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hardeep.singh

May 1, 2009 at 11:29 am

Hi, I’m an admin for a group called HS Likes, and we’d love to have this added to the group!

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photoman356

Aug 3, 2009 at 9:13 pm

Thanks for sharing your great shot!

Your photo has been selected as one of the premier creative commons photos showcased at http://www.barrysell.com

Visit to see what other great photos have been selected.

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PuppiesAreProzac

Aug 18, 2009 at 7:44 pm

Love it! We’ve selected your photo to feature at Puppies Are Prozac with prominent photographer attribution. We’ll add a dose of humor and post it soon! Thanks for offering the CC license.

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limesphotography

Mar 8, 2010 at 4:41 am

Wow this thing is so freakin awesome! nice find!

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