Sunday, as we were driving in the car, my granddaughter asked me how it was possible for a bee to cling to the front passenger window despite the breeze of the car moving through the air.  I said something vaguely like “Tufts of microscopic hairs …”

Coincidentally, today I found an  article on Tech Times Geckos control toe hairs to be sticky or not, inspiring bioengineers to do the same.  Explaining how the geckos hang on, they gave a more complete sentence than I was able to remember.

Those tufts of microscopic hairs can conform so closely to the surface contours of a surface that an effect known as the van der Waals force can operate.

I was also trying to imagine how the grip could be released.  Of course, the headline of the article indicates that the explanation for that is also in the article.

Engineers study the most fascinating stuff.  The next time you sneer at a government (or other source) funded study of  bugs as a waste of time, try to open your mind to the reasons for such studies.  Maybe you can’t  imagine the reason, but that does not mean that there isn’t a reason.

Sneering is an easy reaction, but it is not likely to be the most intelligent one.