Tarakash Josh! : A website for Youth!

A new type of dry glue designed to mimic gecko feet is 10 times stickier than the gravity-defying lizards, and three times stickier than other gecko-inspired glues.

A 1-inch square of the adhesive can support the weight of a 100-kg man climbing up a vertical surface, but it can be easily lifted and reapplied - an ideal material for a Spider-Man suit.

“That is (Spiderman) not real. What we do is real,” said Zhong Lin Wang of Georgia Institute of Technology. Aside from helping people walk up walls, the material may replace solder in electronics, and be valuable in the vacuum of space, where traditional adhesives dry out quickly, Wang and Dai said.

Like other gecko-inspired glues, the new glue uses a carpet of carbon nanotubes - thin filaments of carbon molecules. Attached to the end of the filaments are curly strands of carbon that expand the surface area of the glue’s gripping action.

When the curly parts of the tubes are pressed onto a surface, the tubes become aligned with the surface, forming a strong bond. But, when lifted at an angle, this bond is broken.

As for superhero suits, Liming said: “We will exploit this possibility, if there is a serious need.”