Spider silk, already known as one of the strongest materials for its weight, turns out to have another unusual property that might lead to new kinds of artificial muscles or robotic actuators, researchers have found.
Materials Science
Mar 1, 2019
10
1147
Five hundred years after the death of Leonardo da Vinci, a silk mill incorporating one of his designs is still shuttling some of the finest threads in the world across its looms.
Other
Dec 18, 2018
0
8
Spider silk is one of the toughest fibres in nature and has astounding properties. Scientists from the University of Würzburg discovered new molecular details of self-assembly of a spider silk fibre protein.
Materials Science
Dec 7, 2018
1
258
Scientists are spinning out the secrets of one of nature's most intriguing and potentially valuable materials—spider silk.
Materials Science
Nov 7, 2018
0
135
A team of researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology has developed a silk protein-based gel that they claim allows for skin healing without scarring. In their paper published in the journal Biomaterials ...
Using ancient proteins and DNA recovered from tiny pieces of animal bone, archaeologists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH) and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography (IAET) at the ...
Archaeology
Oct 31, 2018
0
294
The silk fibers produced by Bombyx mori, the domestic silkworm, has been prized for millennia as a strong yet lightweight and luxurious material. Although synthetic polymers like nylon and polyester are less costly, they ...
Nanomaterials
Oct 30, 2018
0
147
Researchers at Northwestern University and San Diego State University (SDSU) have better unraveled the complex process of how black widow spiders transform proteins into steel-strength fibers. This knowledge promises to aid ...
Materials Science
Oct 22, 2018
3
334
A 30-year-old Irish man pled guilty in New York on Friday to narcotics conspiracy over the now-defunct "dark web" marketplace Silk Road, just months after being extradited to the United States.
Security
Oct 6, 2018
0
6
Spiderwebs can withstand a predator's impact while still helping catch and detect small prey. Spiders architect these lightweight networks for strength and elasticity using different silks and geometric structures. Recently, ...
General Physics
Sep 6, 2018
0
95
