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A side view of the artificial gecko foot, showing a dense carpet of carbon nanotubes.
In this scanning electron microscope image we see a side view of the artificial gecko foot at an early stage of preparation. Each of these densely packed fibers is actually a multiwalled carbon nanotube that has been grown on a polished silicon surface (below the frame) by standard techniques.
Credit: Betul Yurdumakan, University of Akron/Nachiket Raravikar, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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Related story: Carbon Nanotubes Made to Stick Like a Gecko's Foot