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Gecko-Inspired Tape Can Be Reused Thousands of Times
Zothecula writes "As is so often the case these days for those searching for a better way to stick stuff together, researchers from the Zoological Institute at the University of Kiel in Germany have turned to the biology of gravity-defying ceiling walkers, such as geckos and insects. These creatures served as inspiration for a new dry adhesive tape that not only boasts impressive bonding strength, but can also be attached and detached thousands of times without losing its adhesive properties."
I could probably save 15% on my dry adhesive bill by switching to this new tape.
What is next a new story on transparent aluminium?
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
They invented universal Velcro?
In real life it will be covered in dust and hair and stick to that crap instead of your surface after a few removals.
They mention it works under water. How does it hold up on dusty surfaces, though? I would assume it would get clogged with dust grains like normal tape does, and lose its stickiness after a use or two... (But then again Geckos can walk over a dusty floor, then up a wall, so I'm not sure) Anyone got an answer?
They could use it to make something a little like Post It notes, only which actually stick to something for more than 7 seconds.
my spider-man suit will be complete!!!
All geckos will suddenly go extinct, and we'll see a "Scotch" brand van disappear into the night.
Or even transparent molybdenium or tinium? Give up, it's aluminum. Have a crumpet...
I will be putting this on the bottom of my shoes.
It may take a while for the new myths to come out, but come on how many experiments have they done with Duct Tape?
Reused thousands of times?
If it's quiet, it could be silent velcro!
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
A few years ago similar idea was announced by some company and there was a slashdot story. At least it's just a dupe idea and not a dupe story, kind of like the picturephone
Walking on the ceiling is easy... so easy a caveman could do it.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
And every single time, it could save you a bunch on your car insurance!
Only with this stuff instead of duct tape.
And add another server to the pool at http://thereifixedit.failblog.org/
i can see the Stride tape commercials...
Save 15% or more on your tape purchases, while knowing you're secure.
make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
Three years ago, the story had much better pictures. Alas, Oct 2008 was not a great time to raise capital. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sticky-situation-gecko-toe-adhesive
Gently reply
It's Geckos! It's made of Geckos!! Geckos!!
You mean like this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride
What is next a new story on transparent aluminium?
Do you mean aluminium oxide (Al2O3), also known as sapphire glass.
Haven't happened much newsworthy in that field the last decade.
If they find a way to produce this in large quantities, they'd shake up the adhesive tape market quite a bit. Tape that's very strong and leaves no residue? Sign me up! Even gaffer tape tends to leave residue if left on too long.
tm
Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
So it's a tape that uses too much RAM?
NPR has a segment called "Lizard Study May Create Super-Strong 'Gecko' Tape". It sounds like the idea has gone from concept to proof-of-concept. It's good to know some these ideas do eventually lead to prototypes.
Here is the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1290473
Difficult to use, and once applied no solvent in the world will take it off.
That's as dumb as saying that rust is the same as iron.
BAE Systems did this in 2006: http://www.baesystems.com/Businesses/SharedServices/Divisions/AdvancedTechnologyCentre/FeatureArchive/bae_ss_atc_geckoglue.html
In real life it will be covered in dust and hair and stick to that crap instead of your surface after a few removals.
You have problems if your ceiling is covered in hair.
These stories pop up ever couple of months, and I'm curious - has anyone played with this stuff before, or know the people working with it? I am *extremely* eager to get my hands on some and would pay almost any price for even prototype material.
No, what's dumb is alleging that a single crystal ceramic has no significant differences than an amorphous powder of the same chemical compound.
Now perhaps you have unique knowledge of a new elemental aluminum allotrope, but the rest of us used our brains to figure out that "transparent aluminum" would require at the very least some alloying material and crystalline behavior.
Unless of course you're suggesting that Star Trek had no use for science fiction and relied instead on magic ;)
isn't the thing that keeps my phone from sliding around on my dashboard the same deal (or in my case my tablet from sliding off my hand)? you can wash em but it doesn't affect it, not chemical bonding.
..geckos filing for patent injunctions.
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
===> Joke ===> /|\ :)
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You.
Gordan Gekko from The Wallstreet............. Greed (to suck up) is good !!!
I see it use to suspend a man wearing a hard hat from a girder.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on