Snipped from ScientificBlogging.com.

Have you ever dreamed of being a superhero? Want to shed your mere mortal traits and take on some superhuman ones like flying, super-strength, invisibility or cling to vertical surfaces like a spider? Well, science may have gotten you much closer to your childhood dreams. Especially for the Spiderman fans among us. It all boils down to the reproduction of a quantum physics attribute called the van der Waals force.

This mysterious force is partially responsible for how geckos, spiders and the like cling to perceptively smooth surfaces like glass. The trick is creating just enough force to allow my 200lb spider ‘wannabe’ butt to scale sky-scrapers helping me save the daily damsel in distress. Now, I just need a spare couple of million to purchase this new technology as soon as it is released.

Here is some of the article describing the findings:

Physicists have found the formula for a Spiderman suit. Recent research determined that van der Waals forces, the weak attraction that molecules have for each other when they are brought very close together, are responsible for the amazing sticking power of geckos and spiders. It is the tiny hairs on spiders’ feet that attract to the molecules of surfaces, even glass, and keep them steady …

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.

If you would like to read the full article click the image below.