A team of engineers and marine biologists built a better suction cup inspired by the mechanism that allows the clingfish to adhere to both smooth and rough surfaces. Researchers reverse engineered the clingfish’s suction disk and developed devices that cling well to wet and dry objects both in an out of water. The devices can hold up to hundreds of times their own weight. The secret mimicking the attachment mechanism that the animal uses was to incorporate a soft layer and slits in the artificial suction cups. The clingfish’s suction disc is lined with rows of hexagonal structures, called papillae, which are covered with microscopic fibers. Researchers mimicked this inside their prototypes with a soft layer made out of silicone.
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