Traditional anti-slip materials, such as natural rubber, repel water. But on ice, this approach can backfire. The pressure ...

Gecko feet inspire anti-slip shoe soles ... And they often don't perform as well on wet ice, which has a nanoscale quasi-liquid layer (QLL) that makes it even more slippery.

Most anti-slip shoe sole materials attempt to address this problem by repelling liquid water. Such is not the case with the experimental new polymer, however, which draws inspiration from gecko toes .

Slips and falls account for more than 38 million injuries and 684,000 deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. And nearly half of these incidents happen on ice. Current anti-slip ...