IF KELLAR AUTUMN has his way, the first footprints on Mars won't be human. They'll belong to a gecko. Gecko toes have legendary sticking powerand Autumn would like to see the next generation of Martian robots walking about on gecko-style feet. A gecko can whiz up the smoothest wall and hang from the ceiling by one foot with no fear of falling. With feet like that, a roving robot could reach parts of the Red Planet other robots can't.
Autumn, an expert in biomechanics at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, is one of a long line of researchers who have puzzled over the gecko's gravity-defying footwork. Earlier this year, he and his colleagues discovered that the gecko's toes don't just stick, they bond to the surface beneath them. Engineers are already trying to copy the gecko's techniquebut reptilian feet aren't the only ones they're interested in.
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