New Spider-Man Device Could Let Humans Walk on Walls

A new high-tech suction device could allow humans to walk on walls like
Spider-Man or create adhesive devices that could be turned on and off
with the flick of a switch.

The contraption, inspired by a beetle that can hold on to a leaf with a force 100 times its weight, uses the surface tension of waterA prototype of the Switchable Electronically-controlled Capillary Adhesion Device (SECAD) holds its own weight plus this lego guy against a Plexiglas substrate. Credit: Mike Vogel/Paul Steen, Cornell University
to make an adhesive bond, but it does so with a creative twist. It
could be used to create sticky shoes or gloves, researchers said today.

The device consists of a flat top plate riddled with tiny holes,
each just a few hundred microns (a millionth of a meter) wide. A bottom
plate holds water. In between is a porous layer. A 9-volt battery
powers an electric field that forces water to squeeze through the tiny
holes in the top layer.

The surface tension of the exposed droplets makes the device grip
another surface — much the way two pieces of wet glass stick together.
Turn the electricity off, and the bond breaks.