Wildlife experts are saying that the number of endangered animals in the UK has doubled over the past 10 years. Hedgehogs, house sparrows and harvest mice are among the 1,149 species that have been identified as being under threat and in need of help to survive. However, it may not be as bleak as we think. Some animals featured on the first list, in 1997, have already benefited from the conservation efforts made since then. The numbers of 123 animals and species, including the ladybird spider and lady's slipper orchid, have increased enough to get them taken off the latest list. So if we make more effort to protect their habitats and to preserve their food chains then maybe we may not lose them. Think on. Follow this link to find out more about hedgehogs, and to join in a UK mapping exercise.
Hedgehogs are quite partial to spiders and that leads us on nicely to the idea of creating a "Spider-man" suit that enables its wearer to scale vertical walls. Apparently natural technology used by spiders and geckos could help a human climb the side of a building or hang upside down from a roof. Both spiders and geckos possess tiny "hairs" that allow them to stick to surfaces. Attractive forces are produced by billions of hair-like structures of different sizes that are arranged on each gecko foot. Scientists propose that carbon nanotubes could be used as an artificial alternative to the gecko's hairs. Carbon nanotubes are tiny cylinders of carbon that measure just a few billionths of a metre across. They are ultra-strong and can be organised into larger fibres. However for such a suit to work it needs three properties
- Needs to be strongly adhesive
- Must be able to detach easily from a surface after it has stuck
- Must be able to clean itself because otherwise the dirt could prevent it sticking
Perhaps we’ll just stick (pardon the pun) to ladders and scaffolding for the time being…
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