A new material called Metaklett is like hook-and-loop (“Velcro”) made out of steel and much scarier. One side of the material bristles with sharp spikes and the other side has jagged steel brushes.

Engineer George de Mestral was walking his dogs in the meadows of the Swiss Alps. When they returned home, he noticed that burr seed pods were stuck on his dogs’ fur! He even found some stuck to his ...