Geckos Know How to Keep It Clean - East Idaho News
Health

Geckos Know How to Keep It Clean

  Published at

H 031815 Gecko?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1426683390218iStock/Thinkstock(BRISBANE, Australia) — That little gecko mascot from a certain auto insurance commercial seems to stay spotless no matter what his company has him doing.

In reality, James Cook University professor Lin Schwarzkopf says geckos are very clean creatures, even in the dusty desert plains of Australia.

What’s their secret to staying immaculate? Schwarzkopf explains that it has to do with tiny water droplets, such as from the early morning dew, coming into contact with miniscule hair-like spines covering gecko’s bodies.

The reaction is that the water droplets both roll over and pop off the skin of geckos, which keeps them clean as a whistle even in the driest of climates.

As for practical applications, Schwarzkopf suggests the process could be used for clothing that would neither become wet nor dirty and therefore, might never have to see the inside of a washing machine.


Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION