New Adhesives Mimic Beetles’ Feet.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany have developed a new adhesive material by mimicking the soles of beetles’ feet:

Potential applications range from protective foil for delicate glasses to reusable adhesive fixtures – say goodbye to fridge magnets, here come the microhairs, which will also stick to your mirror, your cupboard and your windows. For example, the new material will soon be found in industrial production processes in the manufacture of glass components. It has already been shown to perform in higher weight categories: the artificial adhesive fibers on the soles of a 120 gram robot helped it to climb a vertical glass wall (Daltorio et al. 2005).

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