A Sticky Business

Ford Motor Company, the major car producer, is working on several innovative projects aimed at boosting the recyclability and recycled content of its vehicles by, for example, reducing or eliminating the use of glues. The latest source of inspiration is Mother Nature herself in the form of the brightly-coloured gecko, a warm-climate lizard, that sticks to most surfaces without using liquids or surface tension. This so-called "superpower" resides in the toe pads of roughly 60% of the gecko population and allows the creatures to swiftly stick and release themselves as they move along surfaces - all without leaving any type of residue.