Soccer Dad

Spins a web, any size

Don Surber writes about a Real Spiderman He quotes from the BBC,

"If we are able to make a surface a little bit stronger, so that the size effect vanishes, we might be able to make a suit with the same adhesion as a gecko."

The Turin-based researcher proposes that carbon nanotubes could be used as an artificial alternative to the gecko's hairs.

Carbon nanotubes are tiny cylinders of carbon that measure just a few billionths of a metre across. They are ultra-strong and can be organised into larger fibres.

Don credits Spiderman with being the inspiration for this research.

The question is not so much how this will be done, but why?

A comic book. I doubt that anyone would have thought about using gekkos and spiders to help people adhere to walls. Stan Lee’s “Spider-man” inspired this.

An adhesive suit is in the offing but there's another of Spiderman's abilities that has been mimicked. His webbing. (Previously blogged abut here.) I have no idea if Spiderman inspired this development but Israel 21c reported

A remarkable Israeli achievement may have far-reaching implications in future development of products ranging from micro-conductors and optical fibers to fishing rods, surgical thread and even clothing.

For the first time anywhere, scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and from Germany, have succeeded in producing self-assembled spider web fibers under laboratory conditions, outside of the bodies of spiders. This fiber is significantly stronger than the silk fiber made by silkworms.

In addition to strong adhesive properties, spiders also produce webs that are extremely strong. What uses could a spider web like fiber have?

"From a practical viewpoint, mass production of fibers whose diameter is one-thousandth of a millimeter is likely to be useful in the future for the manufacture of bulletproof vests, surgical thread, micro-conductors, optical fibers and fishing rods," said Gat.

So scientists have figured out how to make webbing. They are figuring out how to make someone adhere to surfaces. What else will science develop? A spidey-sense?

spiderman, adhesive, spider webbing.