The Gecko
They walk across walls and ceiling as though gravity didn't exist. But how? For a long while, geckos defied all attempts to explain how they could cling to any surface with no visible sign of glue or suction cups. Then, when a group of biologists and engineers studied the microscopic hairs on the toes of geckos, the answer was found. The ends of the hairs directly attach to molecules in the surface by what is called van der Waals force, a type of attraction between atoms. According to a report in Nature, scientists concluded that engineering a structure like the foot of a gecko is "beyond the limits of human technology." However, they hope that the "natural technology of gecko foot-hairs can provide biological inspiration for future design of a remarkable effective adhesive."
Language | Date | Source | Leviticus Chapter 11, Verse 30 |
Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Mugalh kai camailewn kai kalabwthV kai saura kai aspalax |
Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Migale et cameleon et stelio ac lacerta et talpa |
Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | A mygal, `that is a beeste born trecherows to bigile, and moost gloterous, a camelion, `that is a beeste varyed in to diuerse colours, after diuerse lokingis, and a stellioun, `that is a werme depeyntid as with sterris, and a lacert, `that is a serpent that is clepid a liserd, and a moldwerp. |
Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | The hedgehogge, stellio, the licerte, the snayle and the moule. |
Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. |
Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And the ferret and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. |
Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And the ferret and the land crocodile and the lizard and the sand-lizard and the chameleon. |
gek'-o (the Revised Version (British and American) for 'anaqah, only in Leviticus 11:30; Septuagint mugale, "shrew mouse" or "field mouse"; the King James Version ferret):
Probably a shrew or a field mouse.
See FERRET; LIZARD; SPIDER.