Scientists from Stanford University have built a gecko-inspired climbing device that allows users to climb a glass wall using two hand-sized silicone pads.

They spent 10 years studying the gecko's ability to hang unto slick surfaces and developed various artificial adhesive formulations "with desirable gecko-like properties."

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Stanford's climbing technology is based on "microwedge tiles" that generate Van der Waals force, the attractive and repulsive forces between molecules. Lizards use this force to cling to walls

Stanford researchers have produced a dry adhesive even more efficient than the gecko's, The Daily Mail reported.

"We tested hundreds of individual steps on glass with the 70 kg (11 stone) climber and 140 square centimeters of adhesive without failure," said Dr. Elliot Hawkes, the project leader.

"'The synthetic adhesion system creates a nearly uniform load distribution across the whole adhesive area, improving upon the adhesive-bearing structures of a gecko's toe and enabling a human to climb vertical glass using an area of adhesive no larger than the area of a human hand," Dr. Hawke added.

The Stanford team partnered with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), whose Z Man project aimed to develop biologically-inspired climbing aids for soldiers.

The researchers' findings were published in the Royal Society journal, Interface.

Tagsgecko gloves, Spiderman, gecko man, Spider-man Gloves