In sad news for supporters of vigilante justice everywhere, scientists have revealed the web-swinging abilities of Spider-Man would not be feasible in the real world.
Researchers from Cambridge University say the superhero would need 43ins hands and size 114 feet to stick to a wall without falling off.
The experts found that as climbing animals grow in weight and size, the amount of body surface needed to be "sticky" increases exponentially.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A mutant crime-fighter such as Peter Parker would therefore need sticky pads covering 40 per cent of their body to scale buildings.
"As animals increase in size, the amount of body surface area per volume decreases: an ant has a lot of surface area and very little volume and an elephant is mostly volume with not much surface area," said lead researcher David Labonte.
"This poses a problem for larger climbing animals because, when they are bigger and heavier, they need more sticking power. But they have comparatively less body surface available for sticky footpads.
"This implies that there is a maximum size for animals climbing with sticky footpads – and that turns out to be about the size of a gecko."
There is one other possible solution to the problem and that's to make your sticky footpads even stickier, notes the Daily Telegraph.
"We noticed that within some groups of closely related species, pad size was not increasing fast enough to match body size yet these animals could still stick to walls," said the report's co-author Christofer Clemente.
"We found that tree frogs have switched to this second option of making pads stickier rather than bigger. It's remarkable that we see two different evolutionary solutions to the problem of getting big and sticking to walls."
There is some hope for those still wishing to imitate Spider-Man, Engadget observes.
"The findings show that bigger animals partly overcome their size through stickier pads, and this has implications for the creation of large-but-flexible synthetic adhesives that aren't practical right now," writes Jon Fingas.
"There may never be a real Peter Parker, then, but the studies showing why he can't exist might just lead to some technological breakthroughs."
-
Le Pen back in the dock: the trial that’s shaking FranceIn the Spotlight Appealing her four-year conviction for embezzlement, the Rassemblement National leader faces an uncertain political future, whatever the result
-
The doctors’ strikesThe Explainer Resident doctors working for NHS England are currently voting on whether to go out on strike again this year
-
5 chilling cartoons about increasing ICE aggressionCartoons Artists take on respect for the law, the Fourth Amendment, and more
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
