Sticking to the story: outstanding challenges in gecko-inspired adhesives

The natural clinging ability of geckos has inspired hundreds of studies seeking design principles that could be applied to creating synthetic adhesives with the same performance capabilities as the gecko: adhesives that use no glue, are self-cleaning and reusable, and are insensitive to a wide range of surface chemistries and roughness. Important progress has been made, and the basic mechanics of how 'hairy' adhesives work have been faithfully...