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0xB0BAFE77 t1_j0l6byv wrote

Reply to Geckos use Van Der Waals forces to stick to walls, but how do they let go? by houstoncouchguy

Funny story about geckos and VDW forces...

In 2014, a study by Hadi Izadi, Katherine Stewart, and Alexander Penlidis determined that van der Waal's force isn't the primary cause of a gecko's ability to stick to things. Instead, it's a phenomenon called contact electrification-driven (CE-driven) electrostatic interaction.
Dellit, the scientist who originally did a lot of studies on geckos and who is referenced quite often when dealing with them, dismissed CE-driven electrostatic interactions as being the reason geckos can stick to things.
The linked paper goes on to explain the flaws in Dellit's testing methods and why CE worked even after Dellit tried to eliminate it.

It should be noted that van der Waals force does play a part in the gecko's abilty to stick to things but it's not the true reason a gecko can stick to almost any surface.

Regardless of the technical reason behind the ability to stick, the setae (see-tee) on its feet are what are responsible for being able to stick and unstick. And when a gecko wants to let go, it does so the same way we remove a strong magnet from something. We pull up at one point and break the magnetic bond.
If you have a strong magnet on a fridge, you don't just grab it and pull it straight back. You pry it from one corner (usually sliding it off the edge of the fridge so you can pull up on one edge).
Geckos do the same thing. When they want to let go, they angle their setae away from the surface and this breaks the grip/attraction.
It doesn't pull its foot straight back all at once. It slightly twists, breaking contact at an edge where the force is weakest.

Edit: Typos and clarified a couple sentences.

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0xB0BAFE77 t1_izes4ba wrote

Reply to Windows XP vibes at Dolomites, Italy [OC] [2048x1365] by TaneliLahtinen

I love this sub so much.

99.9% of the posts here I upvote because ya'll just provide picture after picture of nature's beauty.

No politics.
No hate.
No pop culture references.
No memes.
No photoshopping or CGI.
Just a bunch of neat, interesting, and aesthetically pleasing photos of places I'll never get to visit.

Sorry to gush. I just really appreciate this sub and all the cool people who post these great photos.

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0xB0BAFE77 t1_ixggi7k wrote

Reply to comment by bsd8andahalf_1 in Tax Filing Websites Have Been Sending Users’ Financial Information to Facebook by phunky_1

Because the majority of people don't give a fuck about their information or privacy.

Do you have any idea how many people use TikTok?
Supplemental question: Do you have any idea how bad that app is?
TikTok has all the information on your phone. It's not even a matter of "if they look at it". They have it.
They've admitted to it having backdoors.
They've admitted they can see and access everything.
And yet people still knowingly download and use it because...the majority of people don't give a fuck about their information or privacy.

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0xB0BAFE77 t1_it7l7gc wrote

Reply to [OC] New York: Middle School Average Class Size by District in 2022 by waynehihihi

I thought NY school sizes would be bigger........

The "max" here is smaller than some of the classes I took.
We had a few classes that had 30-32 kids per class.
And I grew up in a rather average size town. Nothing even CLOSE to the size of NYC.
Like a city of less than 150,000.

Can't imagine how nice it'd be to have an average class size of 18.

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