Death Grip

A geckos feet have the incredible ability to grip onto any surface, including glass, using millions of tiny hair-like structures on their toes.

How they do this is still up for debate. One school of thought claims that they utilize van de Waals force – basically a weak molecular level attraction between the surface and the tiny hairs themselves.

The newer theory is contact electrification. This effect occurs when two materials touch and exchange electric charges. The result is a net negative electrostatic charge on one material and a positive charge on the other, which causes an attractive force between the two.

Whatever it is, we know one thing for sure – a geckos grip lasts long after the animals dies, which would imply that they do not actively control it.

Information sourced from: @physicsworld_official
and @smithsonian