Pollen season is an annual headache for many. And when you see how nasty pollen looks at the nano scale, as in the image of a grain of dandelion pollen below, it makes sense why the stuff brings on sneezing fits. But understanding the structure of pollen at the nano scale is potentially helpful in developing next-generation adhesives. With funding from the Air Force, a team led by Carson Meredith, a professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, is using the sticky structure of pollen as inspiration for sensors and markers with tunable adhesion.