Starship Asterisk*

BMAONE23 wrote:
Perhaps that Polar Bear is looking for an Eskimo Pie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecko wrote:

[img3="Setae (Latin: "bristle") on the toes of a gecko"]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _glass.JPG[/img3]

<<The toes of the gecko have a special adaptation that allows them to adhere to most surfaces without the use of liquids or surface tension. The spatulae tipped setae on gecko footpads facilitate attractive forces called van der Waals forces to arise between the β-keratin lamellae/setae/spatulae structures and the surface.

One study suggested that capillary adhesion might play a role, but that hypothesis has been rejected by more recent studies.

These van der Waals interactions involve no fluids; in theory, a boot made of synthetic setae would adhere as easily to the surface of the International Space Station as it would to a living room wall, although adhesion varies with humidity. The setae on the feet of geckos are also self cleaning and will usually remove any clogging dirt within a few steps. Teflon, which has very low van der Waals forces, is more difficult for geckos to adhere to than many other surfaces.

Geckos' toes seem to be "double jointed", but this is a misnomer. Their toes actually bend in the opposite direction from human fingers and toes. This allows them to overcome the van der Waals force by peeling their toes off surfaces from the tips inward. In essence, this peeling action alters the angle of incidence between millions of individual setae and the surface, reducing the Van der Waals force. Geckos' toes operate well below their full attractive capabilities for most of the time. This is because there is a great margin for error depending upon the roughness of the surface, and therefore the number of setae in contact with that surface.

Use of small van der Waals attraction force requires very large surface areas: every square millimeter of a gecko's footpad contains about 14,000 hair-like setae. Each seta has a diameter of 5 micrometers. Human hair varies from 18 to 180 micrometers, so a human hair could hold between 3 and 36 setae. Each seta is in turn tipped with between 100 and 1,000 spatulae. Each spatula is 0.2 micrometer long, or just below the wavelength of visible light.

If a typical mature 70 g gecko had every one of its setae in contact with a surface, it would be capable of holding aloft a weight of 133 kg: each spatula can exert an adhesive force of 10 nanonewtons. Each seta can resist 10 milligrams-force (100 µN), which is equivalent to 10 atmospheres of pull. Recent studies have also revealed that apart from the setae, phospholipids - fatty substances produced naturally in their body - also come into play. These lipids lubricate the setae and allow the gecko to detach its foot before the next step.

About 60% of gecko species have adhesive toe pads which have been gained and lost repeatedly over the course of gecko evolution. Adhesive toepads evolved independently in about 11 different gecko lineages and were lost in at least nine lineages.>>

Beyond wrote:

blue-moon_620x350.jpg

Last chance to see a blue moon until 2015, is this friday 8/31/12.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-575 ... rs-friday/

Beyond wrote:World's Shortest Man and Woman Meet.

untitled.png

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/worlds ... woman-meet

Ann wrote:

Beyond wrote:

blue-moon_620x350.jpg

Last chance to see a blue moon until 2015, is this friday 8/31/12.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-575 ... rs-friday/

If it only would turn blue on those occasions! But it doesn't!

Ann

Moonlady wrote:

Beyond wrote:World's Shortest Man and Woman Meet.

untitled.png

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/worlds ... woman-meet

I wish them leading a happy and healthy life!

I am not complaining anymore that I am short

One of my friends went to a physician because the women in their family were shorter each generation, she is 1.49 cm and very slim, buying her clothes in kids section,
and the physician said, as long as the organs have space, there is everything fine.

Moonlady wrote:

Ann wrote:

Beyond wrote:

blue-moon_620x350.jpg

Last chance to see a blue moon until 2015, is this friday 8/31/12.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-575 ... rs-friday/

If it only would turn blue on those occasions! But it doesn't!

Ann

Oh Ann, I will make you a special gift for your birthday, if it wasn't already, or New Year's Day! PM me !

Beyond wrote:

Moonlady wrote:

Beyond wrote:World's Shortest Man and Woman Meet.

untitled.png

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/worlds ... woman-meet

I wish them leading a happy and healthy life!

I am not complaining anymore that I am short

One of my friends went to a physician because the women in their family were shorter each generation, she is 1.49 cm and very slim, buying her clothes in kids section,
and the physician said, as long as the organs have space, there is everything fine.

1.49cm Gee, she would fit in a tea cup! I think i see a c were it doesn't belong. 1.49cm = m = 1.49m

Ann wrote:

Moonlady wrote:

Ann wrote: If it only would turn blue on those occasions! But it doesn't!

Ann

Oh Ann, I will make you a special gift for your birthday, if it wasn't already, or New Year's Day! PM me !

Ohh, I'm looking forward to it!!!



My birthday was in June, but New Year's Eve...?

Ann