Liming Dai of the University of Dayton and Zhong Lin Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology reported that they have developed a super Post-It material that can come unstuck with a deliberate tug, but is 10 times stickier than the feet of some geckos and lizards:

Liming Dai and Zhong Lin Wang said that they developed their artificial setae by growing nested carbon nanotubes on a silicon wafer. The researchers controlled the growth process to make a forest of vertical nanotube trunks turning into a canopy of tangled ends on top. The curly entangled mess acted like natural spatulae: when pressed against a surface, they had a large contact area and hence a strong hold.

The group tested the new material for stickiness on surfaces ranging from Teflon to sandpaper. It was found that when attached to a glass surface, a single square centimetre of it could support 1600g when pulled roughly parallel to the surface, three times better than the best artificial competitor.

No word yet as to whether the researchers have tested it by attempting to scale a skyscraper.

Spider-Man's sticky suit gets real [The Times of India]

Genetic engineers could create a way for humans to absorb water through their skin, so we could drink fog. That would be a more efficient way to use the water available on Earth.

National Geographic has a terrific photo feature on "biomemetics" which includes this lizard, as well as several other life forms whose features engineers hope to emulate.

This magnified image of a sharkskin reveals why sharks can move so quickly through the water. Their skin is made of interlaced scales that channel water rapidly, allowing them to move much more quickly than they would if their skin had a different texture. Scientists want to recreate sharkskin in materials that would allow seaborne ships or people to move rapidly through water.

Sign me up for gills, sharkskin, and foot drinking. I mean, if it's reversible. Top photo by Robert Clark/National Geographic and bottom photo by Eye of Science/Photo Researchers.

Biomimetics [National Geographic] (Thanks, Marilyn!)