Gecko meets Spidey

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Wed Aug 29, 2007 4:57PM4 comments ›

Wed Aug 29, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs

Polytech of Turin unshrouds glue

So many media cross-refs, so little time.

Both the Beeb and the Daily Mail are reporting on research published in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter by Professor Nicola Pugno on "how sufficient stickiness could be generated in the same way [as occurs naturally with geckos and spiders] to support an adult human's body weight." Pugno's team says they've "come up with a formula for a suit" that "would work by coating the suit's gloves and boots in microscopic structures called carbon nanotubes," but it's still on the drawing board.

Some of us are waiting for the inevitable crossover.

Jump to comments (4)

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Comments (4)

Inappropriate or promotional comments may be removed.

Glenn Hauman (6:12 PM on Wed Aug 29, 2007)

Now all we need is a caveman, and we've got the trifecta.

Brian Alvey (9:00 PM on Wed Aug 29, 2007)

But they failed to mention the really cool effect that can come from mastering the quantum forces: anti-gravity. By reversing the attractive effect, scientists are hoping to generate enough repelling force to levitate matter. Fun stuff.

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ulf/levitation.html

Mike Gold (8:33 AM on Thu Aug 30, 2007)

Wow. I remember back when Neal Adams built his own anti-gravity machine. I don't think it worked, but hey, being a pioneer is a bitch.

Brian Alvey (10:15 AM on Thu Aug 30, 2007)

Crawling walls like Spider-Man isn't practical. If you're sticking to a thick layer of paint, it can come off. I can't imagine a 200 lb. person climbing up a painted sheetrock wall using their sticky fingertips. I'm sure it will have some practical use, but if I was a window washer I'd rather have a big metal box under me than be clinging to glass with one hand while I wash it with the other. Heaven forbid I try to cling to a spot that is freshly washed and wet. ;-)

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