Leonardo da Vinci did the first experiments on friction, and found that most objects slip more easily as they slide faster, which makes intuitive sense. If a person’s foot slips, they are likely to fall. However, Autumn and colleagues studied the nano-hairs on gecko feet and discovered that gecko hairs actually become stickier as they slide faster, and did not wear out even after sliding 300 meters.

Autumn and his research team developed a mathematical theory based on the random vibration of the gecko’s nano-tips. Their theory suggested that it should be possible to fabricate a synthetic gecko-like material that also becomes stickier as it slides.

In this video Autumn demonstrates the effects of time and velocity on the capacity of matter to adhere and re-adhere.

Science “first” will advance technology for host of products

In the research, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, team member Mark Cutkosky at Stanford University molded synthetic hairs 10 times larger than real gecko’s hairs. The synthetic hairs became stickier as they slid, and resisted wear–a first for science. This “dynamic adhesive” has many applications, including anti-skid car tires, shoes, and sports equipment.

An interesting side-note to this study is that it provides some of the first empirical support for theories about atomic friction and earthquakes. Autumn and his coauthors suggest that geckos, atoms, and earthquakes may share common dynamics.

“By studying why geckos have the ability to stick to surfaces, the team led by Professor Autumn has made fundamental discoveries about the nature of friction and adhesion,” said John Rundle, professor of physics and geology, and an expert in earthquake simulation at the University of California-Davis. “These results may lead to advanced synthetic materials with novel and important properties, as well as providing far-reaching new insights into phenomena as disparate as earthquake faults and neural networks, both of which possess similar dynamics.”

More secrets to unearth in nature’s bio-diverse geckos
With over 1,000 species of geckos, each has a unique-pattern of nano-hairs on its toes. Autumn is currently working to understand why geckos have evolved so many different designs, and how this biodiversity can be used to solve sticky engineering problems ranging from automotive assembly to micro-electrical connections.

“One big question is how the size of the hairs affects their function,” Autumn said. “Theory suggests that smaller hairs stick better, but larger structures are easier to fabricate. Fortunately, species of gecko have evolved hairs of different sizes, so it is a matter of measuring hairs from these species.”

Autumn is also working to resolve conflicting studies about the role humidity plays in adhesion and studying how rough surfaces and hairs interact.

Click to view photographs

In March, senior Brendan Larsen and senior Alec Kerins spent their spring break fusing these types of Lewis & Clark experiences. Larsen and Kerins brought lab research and global engagement together in Puerto Plata, a region in the Dominican Republic. Along with Assistant Professor of Biology Greta Binford, Larsen and Kerins gathered spiders and worked with children at the Laguna Salada Orphanage. There, they enlisted the help of the children to look for spiders while talking with them about scientific research. The goal was to help the children see education, and science in particular, as a part of their future.

With the help of a SAAB grant, Larsen was able to afford this opportunity. In the following photo slideshow, Larsen documents the trip and explains the group’s work.

“While in the Dominican Republic Alec and I got a chance to participate in actual fieldwork with Greta and learn so many new things,” Larsen said. “How many undergraduates get a paid trip to go to the Dominican Republic over spring break to collect toxic spiders with their professor? It was a beautiful experience.”

Learn more about Binford’s research online, including a New Yorker profile, NPR interview, and video of Binford extracting spider venom.

With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Proctor launched a multi-institutional, multi-year collaborative research initiative, designed to further scholarly rigor and coherence in the field of environmental studies.

“Environmental studies will advance as an interdisciplinary field to the extent that it provides resources and promotes opportunities for high-quality research and exchange among its undergraduate students, who are the future generation of environmental scholars and leaders,” said Proctor.

Proctor kicked off the interdisciplinary project in spring 2008, by inviting two dozen undergraduate environmental studies majors from across the country to visit Lewis & Clark. The spring workshop provided an opportunity for participants to learn about each other’s research topics and to finalize a common rubric for interdisciplinary, situated research to afford comparison.

“Situated research is a way a student can take a broad and seemingly intractable issue and locate it somewhere—situate it—to give it context and make sense of it in time and space,” said Proctor. “It offers a means to build, store, and share research resources; it offers a connection with real-world, practical problems, providing students the opportunity to contribute to solutions for these problems; and it provides a good basis for students to compare their work between locations, leading to collaborative opportunities, and refinement and generalization of the theories they are building.”

Each student will complete a capstone project to submit to their institution’s environmental program, and present their results at a final conference at Lewis & Clark in 2010.

In this video, Proctor and several student research associates talk about the interdisciplinary approach to their projects.

This summer, Loening published a study with colleagues in the UK, detailing a major discovery the group made: an unusual, knotted protein structure.

“Typically, the 3-D structure of proteins appears like a string folded in on itself,” he explained. “If you pull on both ends of most proteins, the protein strand unties like a shoelace. When you pull at both ends of the protein we discovered, instead of unraveling it tightens and forms a knot.”

As a protein’s structure determines its function, one major area of research over the past 50 years has been directed toward studying and predicting how strands of protein fold into 3-D structures. The discovery of this unique, knotted structure generates new questions about how proteins form.

“The structure that we determined in this project underscores how much we still have to learn about protein folding,” Loening said.

Beginning this fall, Loening will bring his expertise to bear on a different, consequential question, this time regarding proteins from brown recluse spiders. With the support of a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Loening will collaborate with Greta Binford, assistant professor of biology, to investigate the structure and function of proteins contained in spider venom toxins.

The $190,000 Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) Program Grant from the NIH will allow the team to engage in a three-year study of the peptides and proteins in brown recluse spider venom, which may have practical applications in the pharmaceutical industry.

“Brown recluse spider venoms contain hundreds of different toxins that target neurons and cause different reactions in victims—from injury to paralysis to death,” Loening said. “We want to study the specific effects of each of these toxins and we hope that, by determining their structures, we can gain some insight into how they operate. Since these toxins interfere with the nervous system, they can potentially be used in a controlled way to produce practical applications in medicine, such as a naturally derived, non-addictive pain reliever.”

In this video, Marzulla and Depper talk about their summer research experience, working with Greta Binford, assistant professor of biology, to understand the evolutionary processes that have led to the widespread, diverse brown recluse spider population. Found in the Americas, Africa, and Mediterranean Europe, the brown recluse has been known to bite, causing lesions in human tissue. Marzulla and Depper are examining DNA sequences and analyzing the enzymatic activity of the spider’s venom to improve treatment and diagnosis of bites.

Rogers Program participants begin their summer research internships in May, working at least 40 hours per week, for 10 weeks. Each research group discusses their research with science faculty during a series of brown-bag lunch presentations on Wednesdays throughout June and July. At the end of the summer, each team writes a research paper discussing their findings and prepares a poster to present in the fall to local, regional, national and international scientific meetings.

The Rogers Summer Science Poster session happens on Tuesday, September 30, at 4:30 p.m. in Smith Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Though tens of thousands of nanoparticles could fit across a strand of hair, Bentley will attempt to corral them into thin films using a technique called electrochemical deposition. By studying the growth of the nanoparticle-containing films, Bentley hopes to generate a new method of organizing nanoparticles so that they can be used in products ranging from sensors to advanced batteries.

“The tiny size of my research subject by no means represents its significance,” Bentley said. “What we learn through this project could greatly affect technology, and I hope that students working in my research lab gain skills that will help them in their scientific careers.”

Last year, Bentley received one of only eight Faculty Start-up Awards given by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. The $30,000, five-year award allows Bentley to offer student assistants research stipends.

The NSF funding will facilitate Bentley’s outreach to undergraduate researchers at both Lewis & Clark and Portland Community College, where she hopes to foster new general chemistry laboratory curricula on nanoscale chemistry.

“I think had I gone to a larger school, like Berkeley, I may not have studied chemistry,” the San Francisco native said. “In that setting, the professors don’t have time to talk to their students, and maybe one in 100 students gets to do research at the undergraduate level. At Lewis & Clark, the undergraduates are the lab; there’s no one else but the professor, and, frequently, the students are in charge of their day-to-day assignments, tasks, and experiments.”

The liberal arts environment also encouraged Delaney to pursue coursework in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. She initially toyed with the idea of a major in psychology, a discipline she considers akin to chemistry.

“They both have puzzle-like qualities to them, but I think chemistry has a bit more, and that’s what I really like about the subject,” Delaney said. “I like to solve puzzles and figure out how things work. Psychology figures out how humans work; chemistry figures out how molecules work. They’re actually quite similar.”

Beyond her diverse academic pursuits, Delaney also tutored organic chemistry students, played violin in the orchestra, and joined the Student Academic Affairs Board (SAAB), the student-led grant-making organization.

“It was really rewarding to see things like the senior art exhibition and know that SAAB was able to fund those projects,” she said. “I was happy to be a part of helping people achieve such ambitious goals.”

Presenting Delaney the 2008 Rena J. Ratte award, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Julio de Paula commended her contributions to the laboratory, classroom, and community.

“Franny has a passion for knowledge and has learned that taking risks is essential to intellectual development,” de Paula said. “She has achieved greatness as a student, scholar, teacher, and leader.”

Delaney graduated summa cum laude with departmental honors this month, and she plans to pursue graduate work in chemistry or a law degree.

The Rena J. Ratte Memorial Award, established in 1970 by the colleagues, students, and friends of the late Rena Ratte, commemorates the distinguished philosophy professor by annually honoring one undergraduate senior whose work is consistently of the greatest distinction.

Spurred on by the potential of far-reaching, real-world biomimetic applications, Autumn is bringing his discoveries out of the lab and into the mainstream.

“The scope of this research goes far beyond biology, into engineering and manufacturing,” Autumn said. “Applications could eventually make their way into everyday products used around the world.”

Autumn’s research has already crisscrossed the globe, appearing on five continents in hundreds of newspapers, journals, books, television programs, and Internet articles. Explore this interactive map of some major media placements from recent years to discover the international impact of Autumn’s work.

UPDATE: Explore this interactive map to learn more about Autumn’s work and see how his research has crisscrossed the globe.

“This project benefits the college and our community in many ways,” said Thomas Hochstettler, president of Lewis & Clark College. “It supports our vision toward sustainability, offers our students the opportunity to learn about green technology, and serves as a model for what I hope are many more projects like this all over Oregon. It’s a great example in which the environment wins while the education and business sectors thrive.”

The panels are expected to generate more than 97,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. They will produce enough power to meet approximately 15 percent of the electricity needs for a facility like the sports center. And they will deliver environmental benefits as well, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 1.8 million pounds over the course of the 20-year agreement. According to figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this is equivalent to removing more than 180 cars from the road for a year.

The project will also provide the college approximately $20,000 a year in energy savings and serve as an educational resource for faculty and students about renewable energy and conservation. Professors and students will be able see the real-time electrical output of the solar technology through a Web portal and learn how the system operates.

Energy Trust of Oregon, a public-purpose organization that promotes the use of efficient energy technologies and renewable resources, will help fund the project.

“This type of agreement is a financially viable way for organizations to go green,” said Kacia Brockman, solar program manager for Energy Trust of Oregon. “Lewis & Clark is leading the way for other schools and creating advocates for solar energy in the process.”

The Honeywell project is the most recent example of the college’s commitment to the environment. Along with being an American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment signatory, Lewis & Clark serves as the home for Focus the Nation, a national “teach-in” event aimed at bringing academia and government together to find global warming solutions. The college also meets more than 30 percent of its electrical energy requirements through a grassroots renewable energy advocacy program that funds the use of green power through voluntary student donations.

“By developing projects that have environmental and financial drivers, we will see the type of widespread adoption that will have a lasting impact on greenhouse gas emissions,” said Kent Anson, vice president of Global Energy for Honeywell Building Solutions. “This solar installation will not only deliver long term value to Lewis & Clark, but also the greater Portland community.”
Honeywell expects to install the solar panels and begin providing the college with electricity by August 2008.