Continuing our strangely comic-book themed posts this week (when’s that Spider-Man 3 movie premiere again?), a scientist has proposed a type of suit using technology based on geckos to allow people to climb walls, ala Peter Parker’s alter-ego.
In an upcoming paper, Nicola Pugno, a professor of structural engineering at the Polytechnic University in Turin, Italy, discusses formulas for fashioning carbon nanotubes into superadhesive gloves and boots that could be used to create a Spider-Man-like suit in the near future. He also outlines a theory for using carbon nanotubes to create large invisible cables that could act as human-strength cobwebs.
The designs for the materials are modeled from the adhesive properties of the gecko, a tropical lizard whose sticky feet can scale trees. Source: News.com
Even if this works, the part I really love, being able to cast webs and swing across a city (and let’s face it, it would only really work in a city like New York anyway … not in the SF Bay Area where I live) doesn’t appear to be in the cards. Heavy sigh.
