Spider-Man Takes One More Step Toward Becoming Reality
In some people’s twisted minds, Spider-Man is already as real as anything can get – but for those of us who don’t need strong drugs in order to distinguish fantasy from reality, the comic book/movie super hero remains merely a fictional character, his powers impossible to attain. However, in this world of speedy and sometimes terrifying technological progress, the “im” has a funny way of disappearing from “impossible,” bringing the world of superheros ever-closer to realization. Today, one of Spider-Man’s many groovy powers is close to having the “im” dropped – the power to walk up walls without need of ropes, harnesses or CGI. No, this advance has nothing to do with glowing spiders. It has everything to do with the adhesive power of tiny water droplets, which Cornell engineers are harnessing to create a device that could, when perfected, be worn on the hands and feet of someone crazy enough to want to scale a building like Spidey. What would science be without the inspiration of comic books? Not very cool, that’s what.
Filed Under: Cool Stuff • Features
