Thursday, 9 February, 2012

In an experiment that could only have come out of California, UC Berkeley researchers decided to see what would happen if they chucked a gecko into a wind tunnel. Who says science can’t be fun? Looking for inspiration for building more maneuverable robots, the researchers pointed a powerful fan straight up to simulate freefall conditions [...]

Before planets, there was dust. But gravity doesn’t affect dust. So how did the planets form before solar wind blew all the dust away? Experiment shows that dust in planetary nebulas was coated with sticky ice.

Spiders stick to surfaces with tiny hairs, using van der Waals forces. Small critters use small forces to big advantage.