Geckos can effortlessly scale vertical glass walls and hang completely upside down thanks to millions of microscopic hairs on their toes called setae.

A closer look

Geckos can effortlessly scale vertical glass walls and hang completely upside down thanks to millions of microscopic hairs on their toes called setae. These tiny hairs interact directly with the molecules of the surface they are touching, creating a weak electromagnetic attraction known as van der Waals forces. It is not sticky glue or suction cups, but rather an exploitation of quantum physics on a macroscopic scale, just so a tiny lizard can aggressively hunt a moth on your ceiling. Human scientists have spent decades trying to synthetically replicate this adhesive marvel, mostly so we can build cool spider-man gloves and inevitably use them for military purposes. But no matter how hard we try, we are consistently out-engineered by a bug-eyed reptile that licks its own eyeballs to keep them moist. At least they use their gravity-defying superpowers for something practical, like avoiding predators and judging us from the crown molding