Italian researchers say a spider-suit that would allow people to climb walls and shoot webs like a certain friendly neighborhood superhero could be just a decade away.
According to this article, by mimicking the way geckos hang upside down from walls, the scientists have developed a method for creating surfacing-gripping “spider silk.”
The insurance-selling little lizards accomplish that feat thanks to millions of tiny hair-like setae that cover their feet.
“The first prototype of a Spider-Man suit might be ready in a decade or so,” says one of the scientists. It’s unclear whether he has a connection to Stark Industries.
Researchers say they have Spider-Man’s webbing covered, too: They’ve already made web-like cable constructed of four million nanotube fibers.
