This stand is so 100 million years ago.

Got an engineering problem? Nature’s probably solved it already. Bullet trains were stalled until a bird-watching engineer turned their noses into Kingfisher beaks. Someday, synthetic viruses might just kill your cancer. Biomimicry can take you 200 MPH. Biomimicry can save your life.

And biomimicry can, um, hold your phone. Any smartphone, big or small, now and in the future, including whatever new iPhone models Apple might roll out today. 4.7 inches? No sweat! 5.5 inches? Bring it!

OK, so it’s not quite on the same level as curing cancer. But as the reviewers who raved about the Bracketron NanoTek stand at its full $25-$30 price understood, it’s still pretty cool.

Inspired by the way geckos can walk up sheer glass, the NanoTek’s “NanoSuction” material uses millions of microscropic bristles to hold tight to pretty much any smartphone. Another pad in the base clings to whatever surface you mount it on. Just keep the pads clean and they’ll work forever.

There’s no sticky residue because there’s no adhesive substance - the material clings because of its gecko-footed physical structure. It holds firm forever but easily lets go with just a twist of your phone. A cutout in the base lets you use your standard cable to charge the phone. No bracket and no dock means it’ll never be obsolete as smartphone models change. No wonder this stand’s Kickstarter met its goal in one day.

So what if this particular application of biomimicry isn’t as spectacular as the way scientists are looking to ants to help create truly self-navigating robots? Or the way the lowly Namibian dung beetle, which survives its arid climate by collecting fog droplets on its bumpy shell, inspired a moisture-trapping water bottle that can draw drinking water from the morning dew? (Fortunately, no dung is involved.)

Small advancements are still advancements. This NanoSuction stuff could become as ubiquitous as Velcro, inspired by burrs clinging to a Swiss engineer’s pants on a hike in the woods. If you ever want to put on a suit of imitation gecko and scamper across the ceiling - and of course you do - vote with your dollars today for a NanoSuction tomorrow.