Left: A gecko foot. Middle: A scanning electron micrograph of hairlike structures on gecko toes, called setae, with “sp” indicating the location of smaller structures called spatulae.

Spiderman's setae, chemical coating, and van der Waals forces work together to enable him to stick to walls and ceilings, representing the science behind his wall-crawling abilities (Image via Sony) ...

Close to the tip, the diameter of the adhesive tarsal setae depends significantly on the hydration condition of the material. While dried setae feature diameters of 2.0±0.1 μm, fresh ones ...

Dragging the setae across two surfaces (one that repelled water and another that attracted water) at different velocities and in environments ranging from 10% to 80% humidity, ...

Adhesion results and the setae are ready to bear the full load of the animal¿s body weight, whether it's scampering up a wall or across a ceiling. On supporting science journalism.

Xinhui Shen, Xin Yao, Marcos, Henry C. Fu, Can the mechanoreceptional setae of a feeding-current feeding copepod detect hydrodynamic disturbance induced by entrained free-floating prey?, Limnology and ...

Setae will bond with the dust, not the surface, and if it slips, so will the gecko, Russell says. The same goes with "oil or very soft materials, [which] don't allow strong connection with setae ...

However, the stiff setae of giant woolly bears are probably effective defenses against many predators. When threatened, giant woolly bears curl up tightly.

Setae are also ultraflexible. When a gecko jumps to another surface or quickly changes direction to escape a predator, its toe hairs must absorb huge amounts of energy and redirect it.

The sticky setae evolved from tiny hair-like growths called spinules, which cover the body of all geckos and are thought to help them shed their skin.

Setae provide sticking power because they are flexible and assume the microscopic contours of whatever surface the gecko is climbing. Even smaller structures at the ends of the setae, ...