Artificial dry adhesives have exhibited great potential in the field of robotics. However, there is still a wide gap between bioinspired adhesives and living tissues, especially regarding the surface adaptability and switching ability of attachment/detachment. Here, we propose a sensing-triggered stiffness-tunable smart adhesive material, combining the functions of muscle tissues and sensing nerves rather than traditional biomimetic adhesive strategy that only focuses on structural geometry. Authorized by real-time perception of the interface contact state, conformal contact, shape locking, and active releasing are achieved by adjusting the stiffness based on the magnetorheological effect. Because of the fast switching of the magnetic field, a millisecond-level attachment/detachment response is successfully achieved, breaking the bottleneck of adhesive materials for high-speed manipulation. The innovative design can be applied to any toe’s surface structure, opening up a previously unknown avenue for the development of adhesive materials.

Understanding the adhesion between rough surfaces has practical significance. We derive a simple analytical formula on the basis of the classic order statistics to predict the interfacial binding energy between rough surfaces. It is found that the strong length scale dependence of adhesion ranging from the nominal size scale down to any artificially defined cutoff length scale in constructing a rough profile can be considered as a purely statistic performance resulted from different samplings and can be further described by a single parameter called sampling number. We compare the formula predictions with the experimental results and demonstrate that our simple formula holds its accuracy especially for the Derjaguin–Muller–Toporov adhesion case.

Fog water collection, as a sustainable approach to alleviating water scarcity, has attracted considerable attention due to its low energy consumption and environmental friendliness. Various organisms in nature have evolved unique biological structures that efficiently capture and direct fog water. The fog water collection structures (FWCSs) and physical mechanisms of these organisms provide valuable inspiration for innovations in fog water collection technologies. This review systematically summarizes biomimetic structures designed for fog water collection, with a focus on representative natural examples such as the Namib desert beetle, cactus spines, spider silk, and Nepenthes mirabilis, highlighting how they achieve efficient fog water capture, coalescence, and transport through special surface textures, wettability regulation, and structural design. The underlying physical mechanisms are discussed in depth, including droplet behavior on micro/nanostructured surfaces, surface energy gradients, and Laplace pressure gradients in directional droplet transport. On this basis, the current challenges in bioinspired FWCSs design are outlined, and future perspectives are proposed. Future research may focus on the multiscale structural optimization of bioinspired FWCSs, the development of dynamically tunable designs, and the use of efficient and sustainable materials to further enhance fog water collection efficiency and ensure the long-term stability of FWCSs. Ultimately, by integrating modern manufacturing technologies and stimuli-responsive materials, bioinspired FWCSs hold great potential for applications in extreme environments, agricultural irrigation, and energy-efficient architecture, offering innovative solutions to the global water crisis.

Ultrathin conductive hydrogels provide conformal and stable contact for flexible bioelectronics, which is critical for achieving the low impedance necessary for high-quality electrophysiological signal acquisition. However, their low modulus has made these hydrogel devices difficult to fabricate and handle. To overcome this, we present an on-demand formation strategy for creating ready-to-use, ultrathin (down to 1 micrometer) hydrogel-based bioelectronics that combine tissue-like softness with ready-to-use functionality. By using cross-linked electrospun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber mats, we produce liquid metal–patterned hydrogel tattoos (LMHTs). These devices transform from easy-to-handle dry films into adhesive, conformal hydrogel interfaces upon hydration. The resulting LMHTs are ultralight (0.9 milligrams per square centimeter), exhibit ultralow skin contact impedance (1.2 kilohms at 1 kilohertz), and show outstanding biocompatibility. We demonstrate their utility in diverse on-skin and implantable applications, including electrocardiogram recording, multichannel electromyogram mapping, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, and in vivo cardiac monitoring on a beating rat heart. This work offers a scalable and practical approach for generating high-performance, ultrathin hydrogel bioelectronics.