Biology Reveals New Ways to Hold on Tight
At an unusual recent meeting, biologists and materials scientists swapped notes about how natural and artificial adhesives work. The materials scientists discussed physical or chemical properties that biologists should consider as they try to figure out how nature performs its sticky tricks. The biologists described how various organisms stay put. By bringing the two disciplines together, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which funded the symposium, hoped to stimulate insights that might one day lead to more effective adhesives.