Gecko Feet Inspire Sticky Tape

Makarand writes "Geckos have the remarkable ability to climb the most smooth surfaces and hang from glass ceilings with a single toe. Their feet are covered with millions of nanoscopic keratin hairs that can exert an intermolecular force - called van der Waals force - producing an adhesive effect on surfaces they walk on. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon have been able to mimic the adhesive ability of Gecko feet with a synthetic material that could find applications in new types of vehicle tires or allowing robots to climb walls. The material is made by using a mould created by a lithographic process and consists of a flexibile and strong substrate covered with 100 million nanoscopic hair each centimetre square. It might take several more years before Gecko tape is made commercially available to the wanna-be Spiderman, but he will have to thank the Gecko for that, not the spider."

Comments

Re:wait wait

[tankdilla]

Ever wonder how spiderman can stick to surfaces through his costume? Sticky clothes?

Also, according to Spiderman the movie, which is in no way an authoritative source, Spiderman had little jagged, blade things that came out of his hand. So when he lays the smackdown on somebody you can bet it leaves a mark.

Re:More geckos

[ctid]

It's not the same story. The one before was about discovering how geckos stick to things. This one is about synthesizing a kind of sticky tape which uses the same "approach".