Gecko Tape

Genesis 1:31
“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

In a previous Creation Moments program we talked about the amazing ability of the gecko to walk up walls and across the ceiling. The gecko can do this because it has tiny hairs, called setae, on its feet. These hairs are so tiny that they actually grip the molecules in the surface of the material upon which the gecko is walking.

Human attempts to duplicate the gecko’s ability underscore the excellence of the gecko’s design. Scientists recently made a one-square-centimeter patch out of water-resistant plastic that had over a million tiny setae on it. As impressive as that sounds, their gecko tape was only one-third as efficient as the gecko’s foot. But it is efficient enough that a glove made out of gecko tape could hold a man to the ceiling. However, man-made gecko tape only works about five times before it refuses to stick. That’s because the plastic from which gecko tape is made attracts water. Every time it is applied it picks up a little water from even apparently dry surfaces. This causes its setae to clump together and lose their ability to grip a surface. The gecko’s setae repel water so well that they work even on an obviously wet surface.

We should not be surprised that even 21st century science cannot duplicate the wonders created by God.

Prayer:
Father, thank You for creating wonders in Your creation which show forth Your glory. Amen.

Notes:
Science News, 6/7/03, p. 356, S. McDonagh, “Caught on Tape.”