How does Gecko tape work?

A gecko foot and a rol of gecko tape. Two pictures of the same physics? Gecko image: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen. To solve practical issues, sometimes all we have to do is study nature. An often quoted example is that of the gecko, a small animal known for the phenomenal adhesive strength in its feet, which allows it to walk on walls and even ceilings. The phenomenon led to 'gecko tape', a strongly adhesive DIY-tape. Its name suggests that the tape and the gecko stick in similar ways, but is the underlying physics indeed the same? For the gecko its stickiness, or adhesion , is caused by small pillars in its feet. The electric forces between the molecuses in those feet and the surface on which the gecko walks - the so-called Van der Waals forces - allow the gecko to stick to almost any surface.