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+--- Thread: Gecko gloves! (/showthread.php?tid=3944)
Gecko gloves! - Dark Jaguar - 7th August 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1837830,00.html
Quote:Experts at defence firm BAE Systems have been working on developing a new super-adherent material they say acts like "molecular Velcro". The textile, which they have labelled Synthetic Gecko, does not use glue or pressure to stick to walls but recreates the natural adhesion of the lizard which gives it its name.
So scientists have recreated the natural adhesion of geckos. Unlike insects, which can use suction cups and hooks to do the job, larger creatures have the issue of scale (since volume increases faster than area when you pump up the size of something, and density being constant, that means that a 10X fly is bearing more weight relative to it's size on those feet than a normal fly). As the article says, geckos instead use properties of the electron shields to "bond" with anything they walk on.
These will make mountain climbing a lot easier, or robbing a skyrise apartment complex, you know whatever.
Gecko gloves! - Great Rumbler - 7th August 2006
I'm so getting a pair of those gloves.
Gecko gloves! - Dark Jaguar - 7th August 2006
Just make sure they are strapped on tight. Otherwise when you fall 50 stories, you are going to have a big problem. Those gloves are stuck to a window up there and if the wind peels them off you can bet you'll have a problem finding them.
Oh yeah, and massive injuries...
Gecko gloves! - lazyfatbum - 8th August 2006
Good, now we have something else to torment the muslims with.
Gecko gloves! - Dark Jaguar - 8th August 2006
Huh... hadn't thought of that... Do you mean desecrate the windows of their religious buildings with our filthy hand steps? If not that, then it's... TORTURE.