十万个为什么·科学阅读30篇（2）
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How Do Geckos Walk Upside Down on Glass Without Glue?
壁虎如何不靠胶水就能在玻璃上倒立行走？
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Geckos cling to smooth surfaces using billions of microscopic hair-like structures called setae on their toe pads.
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Each seta splits into hundreds of even tinier spatulae that make contact at the molecular level with surfaces.
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Van der Waals forces—weak electrostatic attractions between molecules—collectively create strong adhesion.
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These forces work equally well in vacuum, underwater, or zero gravity, unlike suction or glue-based methods.
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A gecko can support its entire body weight with just one toe, and detach instantly by changing toe angle.
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Their feet self-clean with every step, shedding dirt particles that might reduce grip efficiency.
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No sticky secretions are involved; the mechanism relies purely on physical surface interaction.
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Engineers mimicked this design to create reusable dry adhesives for space tools and medical devices.
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Interestingly, larger animals cannot scale up this system due to square-cube law limitations on surface-area-to-mass ratios.
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Ongoing research explores how humidity and temperature subtly modulate van der Waals bonding strength.