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Surprising Science

Spiderman and You

“Walking up the side of buildings like Spiderman could soon be a reality, scientists have claimed.” But the new technology was inspired by the gecko rather than the spider.
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“Walking up the side of buildings like Spiderman could soon be a reality, scientists have claimed. … Sticky gloves and shoes are being developed using a material that allows the wearing to stick and climb up walls. They have already created a new textile inspired by geckos which has been tested successfully on a small robot that can scale smooth surfaces such as glass and metal. Engineers now want to ‘scale up’ the design for humans as part of a project that has been codenamed Z-Man.”

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A palm-sized device inspired by a tiny purple beetle that feeds on palm leaves could one day enable humans to walk up walls in manner similar to comic book hero Spiderman.

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