What can tiny gecko toes teach us? Margaret finds out by chatting to Ph.D. researcher Kelly Siman from the University of Akron.
Class Discussion Questions:
1) Using clues from the video, what is biomimicry?
2)What examples of biomimicry can you identify in your everyday life?
Read the Script:
[Margaret] You can fix everything with duct tape, right? It will never come unstuck unless it gets too wet, or too hot, or too old, or, well, you get my point. It can't actually fix everything forever. So could we invent a tape that's stronger and longer lasting? Of course, and as it turns out, nature might already have the solution. Kelly Siman stopped by the studio with a special guest from her lab who might know about a stronger way to stay sticky. See, Kelly is a PhD student at the University of Akron Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center. She uses biomimicry to solve some big problems, including keeping Lake Erie clean. I started by asking her, what exactly is biomimicry?
[Kelly] Biomimicry is the study or emulation of nature of forms, processes, and systems to solve human problems.
[Margaret] So basically, you're looking at animals and nature to try and figure out how to solve issues that we have as humans?
[Kelly] Yes, that's correct.
[Margaret] And so you brought a special guest with you to show off biomimicry.
[Kelly] I do.
[Margaret] Who's with us in the box?
[Kelly] I have Ky the Gecko. He's a crested gecko from New Caledonia, and he is our lab mascot in the gecko lab at the University of Akron.
[Margaret] Oh, he's so cute, and what is he teaching you how to make?
[Kelly] So geckos know how to stick to things really, really well, and they know how to do it without adhesion. So how do you actually stick to things without sticky stuff or glue, and they can do it just by the structure of their toe pads. And they have different layers, what we call hierarchical layers, and those layers, when they are put together, form a system of adhesion. So they can stick to things over, and over, and over again and not fall off, even in wet conditions. So we're learning from Ky and many other geckos, how do they stick to things, but not only that, when you use regular tape, if you get dust on it or sand or dirt or if you stick it over and over again, it loses its adhesion. That wet stickiness is gone. Well, geckos don't lose that. It keeps sticking, and it self cleans, and if you look at the toes, the toes, what we call hyperextend, so they curl up and they flick off that dirt. We have multiple layers that Ky has. It's lamella, so that's the first layer, and then we have setae, and then spatulae. So it looks like a bunch of split hairs when you look at it under the microscope, and it's not as sticky, tacky sticky like tape, but it's something called van der Waals forces. And those van der Waals forces are really, really weak. But combined with the millions of little hairs that they have on their toes, they stick to things really well.
[Margaret] So he doesn't need any kind of honey or glue or anything?
[Kelly] Nope.
[Margaret] Just all those layers on his toes work together to keep him stuck.
[Kelly] That's it, yep, and he can chill out in a tree or chill out on some glass and hang out for a while.
[Margaret] So where would a tape that's as strong as gecko toes come in useful?
[Kelly] Gosh, anywhere that we use tape. There's a lot of tape in the studio here, I see. I think the cameras would be held up better by gecko tape, but also in the medical professions. We'd like to learn how geckos stick to wet things. So think about Band-Aids or even when you swim in water. In the summer, in the lake or the ocean, they come off typically, and then also for a medical procedure. So we can do it for stitches. So it'll hold better, and it'll hold longer.
[Margaret] How did you get started in biomimicry?
[Kelly] So I traveled a lot, and I fell in love with nature, in particular, when I was in Antarctica. And I just absolutely fell in love with the natural world and how fragile it was and how beautiful it was, and I wanted to blend my love of science and nature and policy and just really doing things to help out the humans and society.
[Margaret] That's awesome. What kind of advice do you have for any kids or girls in particular who are interested in science?
[Kelly] Follow what you love, do what you love. And I strayed from that for a little while, and I was a bit miserable. When you find something that you love and you feel really good about what you're doing, it just makes it so fun.
[Margaret] Definitely.
[Kelly] I mean, I get to hang out with Ky and you here in the studio. So it's been a fantastic journey, and the Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center at the University of Akron is one of the only places in the world that centers on doing biomimicry of all types.
[Margaret] That's really cool. Well, thank you so much for coming in and thank you, Ky
[Kelly] Thank you very much.
