Exhibit 2
The Science of Sticky
Spiders crawl up walls. Flies sit on walls. Geckos climb up walls. What makes these creatures able to scale shear surfaces without falling off? We've come a long way since Velcro. You'll take an up close look at the hand and feet of these creatures and see it's not slime, ooze or goo keeping them from falling off. It's just plain old hair. Feel up for a bigger challenge? Put on the Gecko Suit and crawl around on our sixty degree wall. See if you can reach the top! The Fly on the Wall room will have you launching into the air on a rope swing trying to stick to the wall on the other side. Just remember to let go of the rope!
But it's not just critters that can stick to things. Chemical engineering has created hundreds of substances that when you apply it between two items, they're never coming apart! You'll take a look at history of bonding agents starting with basic mortar all the way through modern complex epoxies. You can even mix up your own batch of SuperStick in our virtual chemistry lab. You'll mix up the glue and then stick a 5 pound, 50 pound, 200 pound or 1000 pound box to the ceiling. See who can create strongest batch of SuperStick and keep it up there the longest!
