Gecko adhesion takes electric turn

Decades-old explanation for the lizards’ supersticky feet is wrong, researchers say

IT’S ELECTRIC  Electrostatic forces feature in gecko adhesiveness, a new study finds, despite 80 years of thought to the contrary.

H. Izadi

Clinging upside down to polished surfaces is simple for geckos, but scientists’ grasp of the underlying forces behind this phenomenal adherence just became murkier.