How can Spiderman walk on walls? With this question and a huge potato beetle toy on her shoulder, Aidee Garcia Zintzun from the Simmchen Group at the Faculty of Chemistry and Food Chemistry opened her three-minutes talk at the FameLab Regional Heat Dresden on 23 March 2022. She explained that not only spiders, but also potato beetles can walk on walls and that this ability is due to microstructures at the feet of the animals. In her research project at TU Dresden called "Colorado potato beetle tarsi microstructure interaction with glass and SiO2-particles", Aidee wants to find out about the secrets behind these microstructures combining biology with physical chemistry. This new knowledge could allow for the development of new kinds of pesticides or for materials research, so that maybe one day we would all wear Spiderman suits and walk on walls. Her entertaining talk convinced the jury and so, Aidee won the FameLab regional heat Dresden. Now she is heading for the finale in Bielefeld on 16 May 2022.

For Aidee the competition was much fun and she enjoyed the experience: “I am very excited about joining more Science Slams in the future. It is a great chance to share knowledge, extend scientific connections and inspire young minds.” We keep our fingers crossed for the finale, Aidee!

https://www.bielefeld.jetzt/famelab-english

Aidees talk at the FameLab Dresden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9EvkzmWXdg&t=1409s