Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Sticky Frog Adhesive

We’ve all probably used tape or other adhesives before. As useful as they are they often loses their effectiveness over time because of dust or other debris under it. Well, what if I told you that there was a solution to this? Now, what if I told you that the answers came from a frog?

Science Daily article “Tree Frogs' Self-Cleaning Feet Could Solve a Sticky Problem”, talks about the sticky pads on tree frogs’ feet that allow them to climb with ease. Normally you’d expect these pads to get dirty and loss their effectiveness. Well they don’t and researchers have found out why. It turns out that as these frogs climb they secrete extra mucus which not only increases adhesion, but also cleans the frogs’ feet as they move. These tree frogs also have patterns on their feet that allow parts of their feet to always be touching the surface while they secrete the mucus via channels between these patterns.

Using these principles could allow the creation of reusable, effective adhesives for humans, particularity bandages. There are already adhesives made from designs inspired by geckos and their amazing climbing abilities, according to Science Daily. I’ve always been interested in amphibians and reptiles. Discoveries such as these make me glad that I choose to take herpetology this semester.

Posted by Joseph Frimpong Feb 8 2011. (Group A (1))

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110703132531.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129201546.htm



10 comments:

  1. If only we could make post-it notes that continually secrete more adhesive so they never get old and fall off! If only that were possible.. but alas, sticky notes are not alive. I think this is quite an interesting topic though. I was curious to see the "adhesives made from designed inspired by Geckos" that you linked in your blog, but the link did not work. Perhaps you could fix this so we can all check it out? Thanks!

    Posted by Laura Moro

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    1. I fixed the link, it should work now. Sorry about that, it was working fine before.

      Posted by Joseph Frimpong

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  2. Great post! Maybe this can lead to a whole line of bio office supplies. Pencils that spawn new tips like shark teeth, pens that reproduces its own ink based on squid, and trees that grow paper! Wait a minute...

    Seriously though, I find it fascinating how often scientists look to nature for clues on how to make things. I heard recently about how wind turbine producers looked to whale fins to reduce drag and increase efficiency. It makes sense though, right? Evolution has had millions of years to work these kinks out and develop some amazing office supplies.

    Posted by William Mohn

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    1. Nature really can provide us with many answers. That whale fin thing sounds really interesting.

      Posted by Joseph Frimpong.

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  3. Really cool article. Its amazing how much technology is based on biological mechanisms. Like the aperture of a camera is based on the iris. It just goes to show you that evolution is the best engineer.

    Posted by Michael Thomas

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    1. I agree, evolution really is the best engineer. Though that is to be expected, since flawed designs get thrown away by extinction.

      Posted by Joseph Frimpong

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  4. Last year in Prof. Irshick's Physiology class, he talked about gecko pads a lot. It turns out not only do they use a sticky mucous, they also have microfibers on their feet which stick and grip to nearly any surface they find. They bend their hands backwards before grabbing so that when they hold on the fibers have gripped a larger area.

    Rhys Ursuliak

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    1. Rhys! So glad you mentioned Irshick. It wasn't until comparative physiology that I ever really considered how the study of frogs and gecko's toe pads can affect the design of post-it notes to military equipment.

      An important issue that Irshick brought up in his class that I think should be mentioned here, is that often types, this type of research is highly subsidized by the military to create better weapons and war-fare materials. Sometimes interests can conflict with the goals of non-military scientific communities. I am apprehensive about how scientific research like this can impact world politics when it is a subject far less controversial at first sight compared to religious conflict and issues like stem-cell research, abortion and birth control.

      Karen-Maria Melendez

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  5. That's pretty interesting. I had no idea that geckos bent their hands a specific way when they climbed.


    Posted by Joseph Frimpong

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  6. When I first read the title of this post I thought that someone had actually been removing parts of a frogs body to use for tape which would have been terrible. It is however pretty cool that someone came up with the idea to use the same mechanism for an adhesive. The techniques seem like they just might work if done properly.

    Posted by Nicco Ciccolini

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