If the girlfriend “help, get them off me!” screams and panicked at the ceiling, shows, is, perhaps, for some, the question of how such a small harmless creature so great a panic can trigger. There are various theories, but none is yet proven. Researchers at the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, Germany interested in this psychology anyway less, but rather spider-physics: How do the animals it is all about, head over to the ceiling to walk around?
Durable hair
To do this, you have investigated the structure of spider legs very carefully, with extremely high-energy x-ray radiation.
The basic principle was already known for a long time: have a spider at the lower end of each leg of up to 1000 tiny, made of proteins and Chitin existing hairs. These “Setae” are for the adhesion to the surface charge. While insects secrete a Secretion that will help you better on the ceiling around can walk, most of the spiders without such tools. The many small hairs lead to a very large contact surface. The resulting adhesion forces add up, so that they are sufficient for most species to keep to the low weight of the eight-legged against the wall.
for this To work at all, must be the hair but is very stable. Why you are, was unclear. Anyway, the Running and Climbing pretty strong forces on you. Which is artificially produced materials are not up to often, explains Stanislav Gorb, one of the authors of the “Interface” of the “Royal Society” published a study. To go to the stability of the spider legs to the bottom of this, the researchers turned to the method of the spatially resolved x-ray radiation. Here, a Material is exposed to – in this case, prepared spider legs of the Central American species Cupiennius salei – high-energy x-ray radiation, and then measured how much and where the radiation was deflected. From the dispersion of nano-meters can be accurate conclusions on the structure of the material. Thus, the researchers were able to see that the Chitin molecules have, in some areas, the hairs quite a disordered structure, “similar to plywood.” The result is that the shaft of the Setae in different directions to bend.
Biomechanical principle?
On the platform with the inlet Ends of the hairs there are, however, parallel structures, which leads to a gain. Because the molecules are aligned with the help of this natural nano-technology so that you follow the train – and pressure forces, which act when you Run on you. Spiders use their eight legs but in very different Patterns. Most often, the sequence of R4, L3, R2, L1, L4, R3, L2, R1, where R for right and L for left, and the leg from front to back are numbered.
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art Gecko-robot does not climb walls
the only animals that can move surprisingly well on the walls and Ceilings are spiders. Similar adhesive hairs found in Geckos. This suggests, according to the researchers, a “a Central biological principle”. The more detailed understanding of the molecular structure of spider legs, only scientific Gimmick is not hairs, but could also pave the way for the development of new materials, special adhesive, for example. This kind of in the correct structure according to the nature of the model, it is currently hardly possible. Future technologies such as 3D printing in the Nano-range could create, however, a remedy, says Gorb.
