Human fly Jem Stansfield didn't need superhero powers to scale the walls like Spiderman -- just a couple of vacuum cleaners
Human fly Jem Stansfield didn't need superhero powers to scale the walls like Spiderman -- just a couple of vacuum cleaners
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The scientist, a presenter on BBC One's Bang Goes The Theory, amazed onlookers by climbing up the side of a wall in a school. His modified vacuum cleaners worked like giant suckerpads and allowed him to climb the wall with ease.
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On a high: Jem Stansfield modified the vacuum cleaners to climb walls |
Stansfield, who was taking part in the Brighton Science Festival Programme and did a similar stunt on his BBC show last August, said, "I came across the idea for the vacuum cleaners when I was doing a challenge to make superhuman powers out of junk. I worked out the vacuum cleaners could support my weight.
I attached pads roughly the size of tea trays to the nozzle and realised they pressed tightly against the wall and could hold me."
He first performed the stunt on the side of BBC building in White City for the TV show Bang Goes The Theory in July 2009.
Laughing stock
Festival organiser Richard Robinson was amazed as he watched Stansfield whizz up the wall like the human fly. He said, "Everyone else, myself included, laughed at him. We didn't think it would ever work, then we turned around and he was climbing a wall."
Inspiration
Jem hopes his wacky creations will inspire future scientists to think outside the box. He said, "I hope activities like this teach children that if you understand the world around you, you can make it work
for you.
Normal boring day-to-day objects can do exciting things for you."
Jem has a degree in aeronautics and will be putting his brain to good use for his next stunt -- when he drives a car powered only by coffee beans from London to Manchester.
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