News tagged with spider silk

Scientists crack the spiders' web code

(PhysOrg.com) -- Decorative white silk crosses are an ingenious tactic used by orb-weaving spiders to protect their webs from damage, a new study from the University of Melbourne has revealed.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 31, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Tarantulas shoot silk from feet

Climbing is possibly one of the riskiest things an adult tarantula can do. Weighing in at anything up to 50gm, the dry attachment systems that keep daintier spiders firmly anchored are on the verge of failure ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Firm uses genetic modification to coax spider silk from silkworms

(PhysOrg.com) -- In what many in the textile industry have for years been calling the holy grail of materials science, genetic engineers from Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc. have succeeded, using Sigma Life ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 14, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 7 | with audio podcast report

Robot fish can trick the real thing

Scientists have long turned to nature for inspiration and innovation. From unlocking the secrets of spider silk to create super-strong materials to taking hints from geckos for new adhesives, clues from the ...

Technology / Engineering

created Mar 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Scientists unravel the mysterious mechanics of spider silk

Scientists now have a better understanding of why spider silk fibers are so incredibly strong. Recent research, published by Cell Press on February 15th in Biophysical Journal, describes the architecture of silk fibers from t ...

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Mar 01, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists untangle spider web stickiness

Ali Dhinojwala and Vasav Sahni consider themselves materials scientists, not biologists. They study surfaces, friction and adhesion. Nevertheless, they have discovered that understanding how nature makes things ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 03, 2010 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (15) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers hope to harness power of spider silk

(PhysOrg.com) -- When Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider in a laboratory, he became Spider-Man, a superhero with the ability to spin strong, flexible webs. Jeff Yarger and Gregory Holland are ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 01, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Nanospheres made of aromatic amino acids: The most rigid organic nanostructures to date

(PhysOrg.com) -- Organic nanostructures are key elements of nanotechnology because these building blocks can be made with tailored chemical properties. Their disadvantage has been that their mechanical properties ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Sep 30, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists genetically engineer silkworms to produce artificial spider silk (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A research and development effort by the University of Notre Dame, the University of Wyoming, and Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. has succeeded in producing transgenic silkworms capable ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Sep 29, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (23) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Giant spiders cast webs over river using super biomaterial

(PhysOrg.com) -- The antithesis of the itsy-bitsy spider, Caerostris darwini, a giant orb spider and namesake of Charles Darwin, weaves a web of super strength never before seen, says Dr. Todd Blackledge, Leucht ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 17, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (37) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Native-like spider silk produced in metabolically engineered bacterium

Researchers have long envied spiders' ability to manufacture silk that is light-weighted while as strong and tough as steel or Kevlar. Indeed, finer than human hair, five times stronger by weight than steel, and three times ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jul 27, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Scientists breed goats that produce spider silk

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the University of Wyoming have developed a way to incorporate spiders' silk-spinning genes into goats, allowing the researchers to harvest the silk protein from the goats’ ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created May 31, 2010 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (60) | comments 37 | with audio podcast report

Investigating how spiders spin their silk, researchers unravel a key step

Five times the tensile strength of steel and triple that of the currently best synthetic fibers: Spider silk is a fascinating material. But no one has thus far succeeded in producing the super fibers synthetically. ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created May 12, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

New analysis of the structure of spider silks explains paradox of super-strength

Spiders and silkworms are masters of materials science, but scientists are finally catching up. Silks are among the toughest materials known, stronger and less brittle, pound for pound, than steel. Now scientists ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 14, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (27) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Here's looking at dew: spiders snare water from the air

Fog-catching nets which provide precious water in rain-starved parts of the world may be poised for a high-tech upgrade thanks to the spider.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Feb 03, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 2