Wall crawl like Spider-Man

Wish you could stick to walls and ceilings like Spider-Man?

''A team of scientists may have discovered a way to take the fiction out of his sci-fi sticking power.

The hairs on geckos� feet stick to most all surfaces because of what are called "van der Waals forces"�attractive forces between the molecules in gecko feet and the molecules of the surface they are sticking to

Ron Fearing, professor of engineering at University of California Berkeley, proved just that with the tiny synthetic gecko hairs he molded with an atomic force microscope. Two types of hairs he created�one from silicone rubber and one from polyester�stick to surfaces as well as gecko hairs do.

Synthetic gecko adhesives would be unique for several reasons. They stick very strongly yet detach easily, which makes them a "smart adhesive" that�s sticky when you want it to be and not sticky when you don�t. It is also a "dry" adhesive that doesn�t leave a residue, and can work underwater or in a vacuum.''

This stuff seems very interesting to me It could have any number of applications. Besides the fact that being able to climb up walls like a spider or gecko would be very cool

Does this new Synthetic gecko adhesive have a bright future?

www.sciencentral.com...

wow, thats damn cool, but I know im not strong enough to jumpar ound of buildings and stuff.

but can a pair of sticky gecko hands save you from free falling 500 feet?

Cool, I'll get started on making web shoot out of my rist right away!

But seriously, This has SO MANY potential applications its rediculous.

Good Bye Velcro

Could be useful for ANYTHING, from normal everyday jobs to space missions and infiltration

The future is here! I want to be signed up for those things. I would love to climb walls. It does remind me of velcro but we live in the future and everyone deserves to live like spiderman. That's wicked cool. Wish I could get one tommorow? Goodbye Segway! Lol!

that would be so cool.always wanted to do that

I believe they have some of this stuff out now. I believe its called Gecko Tape(wudda shock). You apparently can reuse it over and over again until the polymer hairs fall off or somthing like that

This is pretty cool. The ability that Gecko's have to cling has always fascinated me, a true anomaly of nature imo.

I guess if rock climbing ever becomes an Olympic sport (is it?!?) they will have to test for Gecko hairs on the athletes hands!

Wait a minute, Aren't Van der Wall forces are very very weak, so how can that really work. Not only that they break very quickly, so I don't know about they reliability.

I think there is over exaggeration involved here.

What are you saying surfup is there a reason why this stuff wouldnt work? I dont see many Geckos that have reliability issues with this stuff.

Are you saying you dont think it will work on a larger scale?

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
What are you saying surfup is there a reason why this stuff wouldnt work? I dont see many Geckos that have reliability issues with this stuff.

Are you saying you dont think it will work on a larger scale?

I am asking how will still stuff work if it is based on Van Der Wall interactions, which are very weak.

Gravity is a very weak force billions of time weaker then Electro-magnetic forces but with enough of it its quite strong. I think its the same with this Gecko adhesives in a small amount its quite weak but If you increase the area used with the Gecko adhesives it just gets stronger and stronger.

Say if a 5 ounce Gecko can climb with a square inch of this stuff why would 10 square inches not hold 50 ounces?

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
Gravity is a very weak force billions of time weaker then Electro-magnetic forces but with enough of it its quite strong. I think its the same with this Gecko adhesives in a small amount its quite weak but If you increase the area used with the Gecko adhesives it just gets stronger and stronger.

Say if a 5 ounce Gecko can climb with a square inch of this stuff why would 10 square inches not hold 50 ounces?

Let us wait and see how it fairs in real life.

I am not trying to sound bad or anything, I am just skeptic, even though I seem like trying to insult, which I am definitely not. (That wasn't sarcasm)

Thats true surfup Time will tell if this stuff pans out. Im sure if it works it will be used in a lot of every day life.

Interesting sardion2000 said their is something called Gecko Tape already out there I havent seen it yet but it might be related.

gecko tape

www.rip-tie.com...

Cool find Urn so there does seem to be a Gecko tape out there and it seems to work on the same principle."Non-Adhesive, Self-Griping Tape
Reusable at least 20-25 times" That sounds pretty cool

Im not sure if this is exactly what scientists in the article I posted had invisioned as they said its still a few years off.

"At the moment, the team of researchers has only imitated the fine hair tips of the gecko toe. Autumn compares it to building a tree from the leaves back. "Right now we have the leaves, but need to find a way to make the branches and the shaft," which he says is another few years away."

Perhaps this Gecko tape is just the tip of the iceberg on what this stuff can do. Gecko tape sounds cool none the less.Reusable at least 20-25 times

Originally posted by Murcielago
Cool, I'll get started on making web shoot out of my rist right away!

But seriously, This has SO MANY potential applications its rediculous.

Good Bye Velcro

Good Bye Velcro is right and good riddance.
Although the splash Velcro made when it was first introduced was major. If this occurs the resulting uses and amounts needed will be unreal.

I think this technology is being put into climbing shoes etc. outher reaserch that has gone on is for arctic explorers to use the same type of grip poloar bears use on ice to stop them from slipping on the ice and put them on the sole of shoes to acchive better grip.

look into how a climbing shoe sticks to the wall this could be of great use but i dont see what beifits it wouls have for the average person to use?

Have you ever bought an item with it to come out of a package with a sticker on it or come not in a package but on with a sticker and when you pull the sticker off there lies the dastardly residue from the adhesive. If they could use this discovery then good by pesky residue. Also if this can be used just like the gecko then that means it wont get wore away. It can then be used for constantly reusable chip backs and deli packaging and burrito shell packages (just examples the spectrum is vast). The uses are endless.