Spider-Man could have new competition because a team of scientists from the Stanford University has invented the Gecko gloves that will enable humans to climb glass surfaces like a gecko lizard. The researchers succeeded in imitating how the little lizard can climb on every kind of surface without falling down.

The scientists were inspired first by the idea of using paddles. Elliot Hawkes is one of the scientists who invented the gecko gloves and explained how he and his colleagues came up with the ingenious idea. He said that first of all it’s important that the device can be controlled without any difficulties. One of the best ways to achieve that is by using a glove. It can stick like a tape and it works accordingly to the person who wears the gloves. The gloves do what the hand wants, he explained.

Hawkes added that climbing glass walls with these gloves is something very magical. He said the some people might think this will not work, but it will.
The patents for the gecko gloves are still pending and the researchers are making arrangements with toy companies to enter production. The gecko gloves will hit the market in the near future, but the inventors did not say if the gloves will be available this season.

The inventors said they are negotiating with a Swiss company and the gloves could enter production starting this January. The researchers mentioned that the gecko gloves can also be used for grabbing thing in outer space. This aspect is currently in discussion with NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to further study the invention and see if it can do what the inventors claim.

Mark Cutowsky, another member of the research team said that the adhesive used for the gecko gloves could be one of the few technologies that will work in outer space and can be used for grabbing things.
Cutowsky said the gecko gloves really help NASA astronauts in their space missions because the adhesive is really strong and it works at very low temperatures, like the ones in space. The paddles will be very helpful for NASA, Cutowsky concluded.
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