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WITH no limbs, how do snakes climb trees and slopes? It seems they can control each scale individually to grip surfaces.

Biologists have known for a while that the venetian-blind-like geometry of snakes’ scales help stop them sliding backwards.

Now of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and colleagues have found that snakes are much less prone to slipping down a slope when they are awake than when sedated, suggesting they can actively improve their grip. Indeed, videos show that the snakes can control the angle of each scale to stick as firmly as possible to a surface. The work was presented at the American Physical Society meeting last week in Boston.