What does a gecko have to do with materials and textiles?
Geckos can run up, down and across almost any surface, thanks to a dry adhesive on their toes. Millions of foot hairs on each gecko toe form this self-cleaning adhesive.
Many groups around the world are interested in copying biological materials, such as the gecko�s, to make better synthetic devices and machines. This is just one of the many paths for the future in materials and textiles engineering.
If you want to know even more about geckos, the links below describe work at Berkeley and Manchester to copy the structure that lets geckos walk up walls.