Science News

Another hectic day at work, and that means a shortish lunch hour, and that means Science News. Two items today.

Synthetic Gecko Material

The Scotsman reported yesterday (HT: WorldNetDaily) that British scientists have come up with a new material.

SOLDIERS and spies of the future could be given special "Spider-Man" suits, enabling them to climb up sheer surfaces and even stick to the ceiling, according to a leading British engineering firm.

BAE Systems has developed a material that closely mimics the feet of a gecko lizard, which can scale vertical glass and other slippery surfaces with ease.

The firm admitted it was "still a long way off achieving the performance of a gecko - for example sticking to dirty, wet or rough surfaces is a major issue, along with durability".

"We have demonstrated we can do multiple attachments with this material - you can stick it down once and stick it down again. Having a Spider-Man glove is a long way down the road, but in principle, you might have something like that."

It never occurred to me when I was watching the Spiderman movies, but how are they going to make gloves that stay on a person's hands when they've got 200 - 250 lbs of gravity (including gear) trying to pull them to the ground? If they can figure out how to keep the suit on the "gecko," then this sounds great.

Toxin-Detecting Fish

The Telegraph reported Tuesday (HT: WorldNetDaily) that Japan is planning on going low-tech in its fight against terror.

Japan is to use tiny fish in the battle against terrorism.

Ricefish, measuring less than two inches and commonly kept as pets, react rapidly to contaminated water.

The fish, which is pale orange, pushes its face close to the surface when it experiences breathing difficulties or simply dies in the manner of canaries in gas-filled mines.

Whereas sophisticated and expensive filters may take up to 15 hours to detect a problem, ricefish typically react to contamination within a couple of hours.

They plan to expand their deployment of the ricefish soon. Expect pandemonium from PETA even sooner.