Of Gecko Feet and Shark Skins

Okay, I’m trying to focus on “virtual+meat” items, but this article over on Wired is just too cool. Imagine a hull coating for ships that not only mimics the microscopic landscape of shark skin to prevent sea life from attaching itself, but flexes and moves with the application of an electric current to really make it unappealing. Love it. This reminds me of the recent news about how geckos manage to walk wherever (and we mean wherever) they want. All this materials technology amazes me. And I keep recalling how boring Materials Science was back in the early 80’s when I was getting my engineering undergrad. Then again, it’s been 20 years.