The "Velcro", which isn't really Velcro but has one side with spikes and the other with steel brushes, can withstand heat at up to 800 degrees Celsius.

And if you're interested in tearing these Velcro strips vertically (as in straight out instead of horizontally, where it's stronger), it can hold up to 7 tons. So, a 6 ton man or a 6614 pound Hummer H2 could be suspended from a building with no problem. (*Although its not clear how much of this stuff they're talking about to support that much weight, its hard not to be impressed.) [New Scientist via Make]

Brando's $11 Camera Action Mount reflects a special kind of product design—one that doesn't get bogged down too much with practicality, logistics, aesthetics or forethought. Instead, Brando sees a need—perhaps not a widespread one, but a need nonetheless—and just fills it. For as long as there have been cheap portable cameras and camcorders, shows like America's Funniest Home Videos, and Break.com, people have been lashing their hardware to all manner of makeshift mounts using only their own ingenuity.

In that sense this strappy mess, which essentially hangs a few Velcro tethers from your camera's 1/4-inch tripod mount, is a public service, both to those of us with the inexplicable urge to hurt ourselves on camera, and for those of us who just love to watch. Thanks? [Brando]

This whole concept of this show depends on humiliating its participants. The producers, though, must have caught on to something more: everyone on this show is pretty annoying. Shrewdly, then, ISJGS smashes them into wooden doors. Thanks, ABC!

According to the scientists at UC Berkeley and Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, a 2-cm square of the stuff can hold nearly a pound. Off the bat, that may not be enough to hold me on a gusty day 32 stories up the side of the Empire State Building, but it's a good start. Put a whole suit of the material on a guy as limber as, say, Andy Serkis, and you never know.

Another cool attribute is that—like certain ex-girlfriends—the stuff gets clingier the longer you use it. As it was rubbed against a glass plate, it got stronger, because of the way the fibers bent into shape. I'm not even sure many geckos can get a solid grip on glass. Of course, I don't want Berkeley professor Ron Fearing to hear me talking smack about his beloved lizards. Here's how he rhapsodizes the inspiration for his invention:

"The gecko has a very sophisticated hierarchical structure of compliant toes, microfibers, nanofibers and nanoattachment plates that allows the foot to attach and release with very little effort. The gecko makes it look simple, but the animal needs to control the directions it is moving its toes—correct movement equates to little effort."

Velcro Wall Socket Conserves Energy [Yanko Design]

They can be used on anything from sneakers to ski gloves to a waterproof cast (shown above) that Duffy calls the Unitary Wrap. I don't think I've used anything with Velcro since I was a kid, but the thought of a removable, waterproof cast sounds pretty cool. – Louis Ramirez

The New Velcro [Pop Sci]

Half-hook, half-loop, "Velcro" is a velvety fabric of the gods who've been long searching for an alternative to tying their most holy of high-tops. Swiss (or alien?) engineer Georges de Mestral claims the inspiration was from plant life. Ironically, by inventing such a fabric, Mestral has actually thrown off the very balance of nature from which he drew. We give the human race five more years at best before we're all stuck to cactuses in the middle of the Sahara. – Mark Wilson

The trick comes from the bit of velcro at the end, which when you spin the snake around, picks up hair and other particles from inside your drain. Pull it out, vomit at the disgustingness, and you're good to go. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Flexisnake via Strange New Products]