Physicists reveal how Spiderman climbs

[Tormod]

Physicists have found the formula for a Spiderman suit. Only recently has man come to understand how spiders and geckos effortlessly scuttle up walls and hang from ceilings but it was doubted that this natural form of adhesion would ever be strong enough to hold the weight of real life Peter Parkers.

 

lefthttp://hypography.com/gallery/files/5/foot_thumb.jpg[/img]Recent research concluded that van der Waals forces – the weak attraction that molecules have for each other when they are brought very close together - are responsible for creepy crawlies' amazing sticking power. It is the tiny hairs on spiders' feet that attract to the molecules of surfaces, even glass, and keep them steady.

 

This discovery however has been taken one step further by research published today in the Institute of Physics' Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter to make sticky human suits.

 

Professor Nicola Pugno, engineer and physicist at Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, has formulated a hierarchy of adhesive forces that will be strong enough to suspend a person's full body weight against a wall or on a ceiling, while also being easy to detach.

 

Carbon nanotube-based technology could be used to develop nano-molecular hooks and loops that would function like microscopic Velcro. This detachable, adhesive force could be used in conjunction with van der Waals forces and capillary adhesion.

 

Pugno said, "There are many interesting applications for our theory, from space exploration and defense, to designing gloves and shoes for window cleaners of big skyscrapers." The theory is all the more significant because, as with spiders' and geckos' feet, the hooks and hairs are self-cleaning and water-resistant. This means that they will not wear or get clogged by bad weather or dirty surfaces and will be able to withstand some of the harshest habitats on earth, including the deep sea.

 

Pugno continued, "With the idea for the adhesion now in place, there are a number of other mechanics that need addressing before the Spiderman suit can become a reality. Size-effects on the adhesion strength require further research. Moreover, man's muscles, for example, are different to those of a gecko. We would suffer great muscle fatigue if we tried to stick to a wall for many hours."

 

"However now that we are this step closer, it may not be long before we are seeing people climbing up the Empire State Building with nothing but sticky shoes and gloves to support them."

 

Source: Institute of Physics

[sanctus]

very interesting...would be fun if this were ever common people leisure time!

[DougF]

I don't think you'd see me climbing up the Empire State Building with nothing but sticky shoes and gloves to support me. :lol:

but I'd hang a picture with it, just think no more nail holes. :lol:

[Tormod]

I don't think you'd see me climbing up the Empire State Building with nothing but sticky shoes and gloves to support me. :lol:

 

*exhales* :lol: :hihi:

[GAHD]

so long duct-tape, we knew ye well...

[jab2]

However now that we are this step closer, it may not be long before we are seeing people climbing up the Empire State Building with nothing but sticky shoes and gloves to support them.

Am I missing something here? :lol:

 

My logic tells me that to be supported on a vertical wall by only your hands and feet, each limb must support more or less 25% of one's body mass. To free a hand to move in any direction, would require you to exert a force in access of 25% of you body weight to "break free" from the wall. I am sure very fell people can lift 25% of their body mass more that a few times before their muscles are totally exhausted.

[Tormod]

Well isn't that what mountain climbers already do?

 

Some example applications are listed in the story - like dirty walls, for example, and window washers.

 

I look forward to the "body snatcher kit" which we could use to wrap our friends and stick them up in the ceiling when they get too annoying at parties.

[GAHD]

Looking at the gecko's feet it seems that it's feet have a bunch of flat-ish pads coming off, so that there's a lot of surface area available for support when they're flat, but if they get pulled directly away it peels from one edge where the force is greatest.

 

if a similar system were manufactured it stands to reason the same stick&peel would work, negating the need to use all that much force at one to unstick.