Artificial Gecko Adhesive, Now In Experimental Glue

thefickler writes "Scientists at the University of Dayton have created a peel-on, peel-off glue which mimics the wall-climbing abilities of Spiderman. The substance, based on the feet of the Gecko lizard, is three times stickier than existing adhesives. The material is so strong that a 4×4mm pad would be enough to hold a 1.5kg object such as a hardcover book. However, it's likely too expensive for consumer use: one British scientist calculates that a single Post-it note using the glue would cost around a thousand dollars." We've mentioned the possibilities of synthetic gecko technology several times before, including as applied in this wall-climbing robot; commercial applications have seemed just around the corner for a while now.

Cost of new technology

[penguin_dance]

They mention the cost, but surely that will come down. Anything breakthrough like that is going to be expensive to create until the figure out a way to mass produce it.

I wonder, however, the type of strength you'd have to have to actually "do a Spiderman" up the building. Yes it will hold you to the building, but you'll still have to have the upper body strength to advance your way up without handholds to help if it's a flat surface.

Sci-Fi fun aside, there will no doubt be a lot of uses for this product. And a few years down the road we will have infomercial guru, Billy Mays [wikipedia.org] shouting at us to try new and improved "Gecko Glue" to hang pictures and fix broken mugs. :)

Re:Article is Annoying as Hell

[PitaBred]

So wear gloves and shoes that are tightly attached. You can hold yourself up normally by your fingers and toes, right? Problem solved.

Spiderman example warranted?

[Gracenotes]

The Spiderman "application" may be useful for explaining the general function of the glue, but I wonder how it would fare in actual building-scaling. The fact that one only needs change the angle of the glue application area to detach it makes it seem too unreliable to use for holding up objects. I'd much rather be held 100 feet in the air by a cable than by a square inch of an adhesive (and in fact, I'd rather not be held in the air at all). This is just my intuition, of course, and not carefully researched. I'd be a lot happier seeing it used in other commercial applications—e.g., in the place of soldering—when/if it becomes commercial viable to do so.

Re:Not to be a pedant, but...

[bennomatic]

Actually, you are being a pedant. You're right, but, y'know, I'm sure you did know what the OP meant.

I don't mean this as an insult; it's just that your post made me grin. Kind of like when someone underscores what they are expressing metaphorically by saying, "literally." Like: "I was so hungry I literally could have eaten a horse." I've actually taken to saying, myself, "[blah blah], literally! By which I mean figuratively."

And when anyone questions my most outlandish statements, I tell them, straight faced, "I always speak in hyperbole. Always. ALLLWAYS."

Re:behavior of our 'representatives' sticks to US

[Anonymous Coward]

yOUR

Isn't the lameness filter designed to block posts like this one?

Re:Cost of new technology

[Alain Williams]

I wonder, however, the type of strength you'd have to have to actually "do a Spiderman" up the building. Yes it will hold you to the building, but you'll still have to have the upper body strength to advance your way up without handholds to help if it's a flat surface.

The other big thing to think about is what are you adhering to ? This might work if you were climbing up something like clean metal or marble, but most will be much lower quality. Many surfaces if you pull too hard on them will disintegrate and the top layer will detach, so you will just end up falling off the sky scraper with a thin layer of brick or paint on your hands.

Re:Cost of new technology

[mweather]

This won't hold electrical components. It's not glue. It's a sheet of material with billions of tiny hairs that are so small they physically come in contact with the atoms of the surface they touch. This causes it to magnetically bond with the material. It's removable because you can peel away a few hairs at a time with a peeling motion.

Space Shuttle fix?

[Anachragnome]

This sounds like a perfect solution for adhering the tiles to the outside of the space shuttle, provided it can withstand the heat. Considering the glue would be on the back of the insulating tiles, does that mean the temperatures would be tolerable enough for it to work?

2 cents

Re:Cost of new technology

[TheLink]

Obvious: add pads just below the knees.

Bend to peel off.