Research paper describes a novel material that promises to rock the world of footwear, give us superpowers

Mar 18, 2015 21:10 GMT  ·  By

Winter is pretty darn amazing, what with snow blanketing cities and people enjoying a nice cup of cocoa by the fire. Ice, on the other hand, is one of nature's most evil creations.

Each and every year, ice makes thousands of people tumble to the ground, face first, and the experience is by no means a pleasant one. Heck, it's not even what some would call tolerable.

Luckily, scientists are hard at work trying to figure out a way to help us keep our characteristic bipedal stance even when walking or running on ice. Yup, we might soon get this awesome superpower.

In a recent paper in the journal Applied Physics Letters, researchers from Canada describe a novel material that is essentially glass fibers embedded in a rubber-like plastic and that could make our shoes ice-proof.

The glass fibers included in the material's makeup protrude out of the rubbery plastic and act like microscopic studs. If added to the soles of our shoes, the material would make it easier for us to walk on ice.

Apart from providing better traction on ice, the material is understood to perform equally well when it comes to helping people stand their ground on other tricky surfaces like those made of quarry tile.

The Canadian scientists are now busy testing their science-made shoe soles in laboratory conditions. They argue that, should such soles be made available to the general public, fewer people would fall and injure themselves during the harsh winter months.

“This work has the potential to have a real impact on the massive, expensive public health problem of winter falls,” specialist Tilak Dutta said in a statement, as cited by Science Daily.

The heal of this prototype shoe is fitted with a small army of glass fibers
The heal of this prototype shoe is fitted with a small army of glass fibers

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Ice makes winter positively horrible
The heal of this prototype shoe is fitted with a small army of glass fibers
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