The gecko, that engaging lizard that climbs walls and runs across ceilings, is alleged to do so by means of the 'setae' on its feet — tiny hairs which stick to its anchorage by van der Waals forces. Daedalus does not believe it. A crumbly wall or powdery ceiling would easily defeat such forces, which occur only between surfaces in very intimate contact.

Similarly, engineering slip gauges, which are ground to better than 0.01 millimetre, cling together when 'wrung' into a pile for measurement. Again, Daedalus absolves van der Waals forces, and atmospheric pressure, from this feat. He reckons that the thin film of oil on the gauges is responsible, hauling them together by capillary forces. If the gauges were carefully dried by means of dichloromethane, for example, and then heated to about 35 °C (the boiling point of that solvent), they should fall apart.

In fact, Daedalus reckons that the only application of van der Waals forces in ordinary life is the ancient art of spinning. The business of taking short fibres, and twisting them together into a long, strong thread, is most remarkable. The fat on wool, and the oil on cotton, must play an initial role, tying the strands together. Yet after a while van der Waals forces must play their part, for the fabric does not fall apart again on washing.

So Daedalus proposes a new spinning technology. An initial thread, maybe a wire or carbon fibre, or even a traditional yarn, will be raised to a high voltage while other porous materials are released around it. Expanded polystyrene, paper pieces, cotton, wool and so on will be released nearby and will stick firmly by coulombic forces, which must also bring the surfaces into intimate contact. The resulting 'open fibre' should be as strong as anything van der Waals forces could bring about. Daedalus wonders whether oil will be needed to reinforce the initial bond before the fibre is converted to a fabric and washed.

All sorts of materials can be floated onto open fibre: fumed silica, fine metal wires, even expanded vermiculite. Daedalus has set his sights on a fibre as strong as conventional ones, but with far more 'bulk' and thermal resistance. It will knit or loom-weave into an amazingly warm cloth. DREADCO engineers have free rein to add any bulky insulator to the fibre, in the hope of improving these properties. Daedalus himself hopes to gain a bit of insight into how ordinary spinning actually works.