We could all be Spider-Man one day

Researchers have created an adhesive that can be attached to boots to allow humans to walk up walls, and it can be turned on and off using UV lights.

The German researchers created a gecko foot-inspired tape which goes on top of a light-sensitive film which consists of azobenzene – a molecule that contracts under UV light, ultimately stopping working.

The experts state that just a 20 centimetre square strip of the material, which they have catchily called bioinspired photocontrollable microstructured transport device (BIPMTD), can support the weight of an average man – although they are yet to test it with humans.

The surface of the material has mushroom-shaped molecules on it that stick with intensity to anything that comes into contact with.