Soon we can all be Spiderman!

 Scientists say people could soon be able to stick to buildings like Spiderman by wearing special gloves and shoes.

Researchers at Stanford University, California, have created a new textile inspired by the feet of gecko lizards.

It has been tested successfully on a small 'robotic' gecko, called Stickybot, which can walk up panes of glass, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Engineers now want to scale up the design for humans as part of a project that has been codenamed Z-Man.

Geckos' ability to defy gravity is due to microscopic hairs on their toes, increasing the surface area, which creates a one-way adhesive.

A sticky bond is created with each step but that bond can be broken by movement in the other direction.

Professor Mark Cutkosky, the lead designer, said the new rubber-like material is covered with thousands of tiny polymer fibres.

"Unless you use suction cups, which are kind of slow and inefficient, the other solution out there is to use dry adhesion, which is the technique the gecko uses," he said.

"Other adhesives are like walking around with chewing gum on your feet: You have to press it into the surface and then you have to work to pull it off.

"But with directional adhesion, it's almost like you can sort of hook and unhook yourself from the surface."