Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Developing Commercially Viable Synthetic Gecko
Gordon from Seattle writes to mention a CNN article about a new way to hang out. A British aerospace team is working on a super-sticky substance they're calling "Synthetic Gecko". It mimics the hairs on a gecko's foot, and may eventually be developed as a reusable adhesive. From the article: "Each of the microscopic setae on a gecko's foot has a mushroom shaped cap on the end, less than one-thousandth of a millimeter across. This ensures that the gecko's foot is in very close contact with the surface beneath. The cumulative attractive force, called van der Waals force, of these setae allows the lizard to scurry up walls and ceilings, and even hang from polished glass surfaces. In 2003 scientists at the University of Manchester produced a one centimeter patch of 'gecko tape,' but neither the University of Manchester nor University of California teams managed to produce the material in a greater quantity, unlike Haq and Sargent, who have already tested areas larger than 10 centimeters-squared."
I can hardly wait! When this is out I can /really/ play Spiderman!!
This story is reminiscent of the intrepid discoverers of the elusive Velcro animal of 40 years ago.
We're lucky they found it before it was hunted to extinction by the naugabeast.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
I've seen a lizard leap onto a pane of glass and scurry up - almost gave up the hunt but I didn't want it freaking me out in the middle of the night. They're as sticky as that protective film that people never remove from the plastic faceplates on radios /and/ they change colors, formidable pests. If only we could crack the secrets of lizard technology.. Cars that run on flies with tires that could adhere to any surface...
That will come as a great relief to the gecko population around my neighbourhood - which I hunt and tie to my hands and feet to I can hang out on the ceiling.
{insert Mozilla joke here}
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
Tastes just like real gecko!
One square meter of the stuff on a small family sized car could save you up to 15%
[/sarcasm]
Before you even try...Do NOT use this to masturbate!!! Seriously, you WILL regret it.
And let's not forget the mass-extinction event of the Polyestrian era in the late 20th century.