The mystery of what makes geckos stick to just about anything - a question that has puzzled scientific minds since aristotle - finally has been solved, according to a new study.



the answer involves the geomotry, not the biochemistry, of the lizards feet, meaning scientists may be able to duplicate the same geometric principles to create such things as robots that can walk on any surface, in any direction, as the researchers say. another possibility is something as simple as Band Aids that hold tight, but dont stick when theyr peeled off.



"I just saw the movie 'Spiderman' and i realized that someday we'll be able to do even better then he does sticking to things," said Kelley Autumn, a Lewis and Clark College biologist in Portland, and lead author of the study published Tuesday in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.



Researchers found that the tips of the hairs on the bottom of gecko feet are tiny enough to take advantage of a weak attraction between individual molecules called van der Waals forces.



Geckos have millions of microscopic hairs on the bottoms of their feet that are narrower than human hairs, and each splits off into 1,000 tips that are so small they can not be seen with a conventional microscope and can be detected only with an electron microscope



The shape of the hairtips is alsocritical, allowing the small lizard to scamper up walls and across ceilings by sticking its toes to nearly any smooth surface in less then one eight-thousandth of a second and unstickingthem in half that time



"what we discovered was the angle the little shaft of the hair makes with the surface is the critical variable," Autumn said.



"the gecko has this really unique way of taking its feet off the wall - it peels its toes like tape,"