Why you’ll never see a dirty gecko?
Student Society for Science 11-4-15
SCIENTIFIC SHIELD: Animals, technology & engineering
and materials science
SUMMARY:
Nowadays we are wearing simple clothes. Even though little by little the T-shirts are more original, maybe they change with the light, they reproduce music,... but maybe one day you'll be posible to wear a self-cleaning jacket and it could have been inspired by a frozen lizard, gecko, to be exact.
Australian scientist Jolanta Watsonand her husband, Gregory Watson, work at Australia’s University of the Sunshine Coast in Maroochydore, Queensland. As multidisciplinary scientists, they work in many fields. Over the years they have studied the unusual properties of insect and plant surfaces.
The scientists hadn’t set out to study the water-repelling behavior of gecko skin. They just followed where their research took them. And it quickly led to other gecko-skin surprises. For instance, when the Watsons looked closer, they realized the gecko had a self-cleaning skin.
Engineers recently created nano-scale spikes on the surface of a new plastic. Those bumps repel moisture and dirt in much the same way as the gecko skin did.
And before long engineers will be able to create whatever using properties of the gecko and maybe with other animals.
BOUNCING DROPSThis video shows how small liquid droplets
cannot sit on the lizard’s skin. Any that rain down upon
it bounce up, again — and away
CRITICAL APPRAISAL:
In this days scientist can do whatever. Innovations in the clothes scope could be great in my opinion.
But there is one thing that scares me.
Is the fact that if you want create something like is you'll have to experiment with the lizard. And it's very normal that during the experiment one of the animals dies.
It's true that I'm agree with it but I think that there's a limit. Are we able to put on one?
On the other hand we'll have incredible clothes as self-cleaning jackets, computer keyboard that only obeys us, super-hydrophobic clothes and plastics with several uses, a self-cleaning surface that can get rid of dirt just by sitting there, antibacterial properties might lead to safer surfaces in hospitals or engineers might develop materials that protect the electronics on boats.
GLOSSARY:
engineer A person who uses science to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.
gecko A small to medium sized reptile found in warm to equatorial regions of the world. Some 2,000 different species of this lizard exist, in a wide range of colors. These reptiles eat insects, worms and even the occasional small bird. But they are best known for being to climb slick surfaces, owing to special structures on the bottom of their feet.
hydrophobic Repelling (or not absorbing) water.
antibacterial Having properties that tend to destroy or limit the growth or reproduction of bacteria.
multidisciplinary Having to do with many different disciplines (such as the combination of biology and physics, or computer science and geology), or teaming up people from many different fields (such as hydrology, plant science, statistics and bacteriology) to work on the same project.
lizard A type of reptile that typically walks on four legs, has a scaly body and a long tapering tail. Unlike most reptiles, lizards also typically have movable eyelids. Examples of lizards include the tuatara, chameleons, Komodo dragon, and Gila monster.
