Nanotube structures stickier than gecko feet

From Roland Piquepaille: Gecko lizards, which can climb any vertical surface and hang from a ceiling with one toe, have fascinated scientists for a long time. Their foot-hairs have a structure which allow them to strongly adhere to [almost] any type and shape of surface. Now, according to this short news release from the National Science Foundation (NSF), researchers from the University of Akron, Ohio, have developed synthetic hairs from multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) that have adhesion forces 200 times higher than those observed with gecko foot-hairs. This could lead to new dry adhesives used in microelectronics, robotics or space applications. This overview contains more details, references and illustrations about these sticky nanotubes.