News tagged with spider silk

Untangling the mysteries of spider silk

Spiders weave a web even more tangled than originally thought – at least on the nanoscale level, according to a new study performed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.

Chemistry / Polymers

created May 03, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists develop ultra-thin solar cells

Austrian and Japanese researchers on Wednesday unveiled solar cells thinner than a thread of spider silk that are flexible enough to be wrapped around a single human hair.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Apr 04, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 5

Japan scientist makes violin strings from spider silk

A Japanese scientist said he has made violin strings out of spider silk and claims that -- in the right hands -- they produce a beautiful sound.

Chemistry / Polymers

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (15) | comments 13

Spider silk conducts heat as well as metals, study finds

Xinwei Wang had a hunch that spider webs were worth a much closer look.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Mar 05, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (25) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

Most stretchable spider silk reported

The egg sac silk of the cocoon stalk of the cave spider Meta menardi is the most stretchable egg sac silk yet tested, according to a study published Feb. 8 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A spider web's strength lies in more than its silk

While researchers have long known of the incredible strength of spider silk, the robust nature of the tiny filaments cannot alone explain how webs survive multiple tears and winds that exceed hurricane strength.

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Silkworms spinning spider webs

(PhysOrg.com) -- A spiders silk is strong and more elastic and has a large range of possible medical applications. However, spiders have a history of being territorial and prone to cannibalism, so the idea ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 03, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (15) | comments 4 | with audio podcast report

Researchers link patterns seen in spider silk, melodies

Using a new mathematical methodology, researchers at MIT have created a scientifically rigorous analogy that shows the similarities between the physical structure of spider silk and the sonic structure of ...

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Dec 08, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Shrimp-like crustacean found to make gooey underwater silk

(PhysOrg.com) -- Fritz Vollrath and colleagues from Oxford University have been analyzing the gooey material produced by tiny amphipods known as Crassicorophium bonellii, a small shrimp-like creature that p ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast report

Chemical weapon in spider silk repels ant attack: study

Researchers have shown for the first time how Golden orb web spiders (Nephila antipodiana) add a chemical to their web silk to repel invading ants.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

New partnership looks to industrialize spider silk production

(PhysOrg.com) -- For thousands of years, human beings have looked with envy upon the silk webs spun by spiders; not only are they stronger than steel but they are tougher too (a vest made of spider web material ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Sep 15, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 3 | with audio podcast report

Utah researcher helps artist make bulletproof skin

A bio-art project to create bulletproof skin has given a Utah State researcher even more hope his genetically engineered spider silk can be used to help surgeons heal large wounds and create artificial tendons ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Aug 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2

Why spiders don't drop off of their threads

It has five times the tensile strength of steel and is stronger then even the best currently available synthetic fibers: Spider thread. German scientists of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen and the Universitaet Bayreuth ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Aug 17, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 3

Genetically engineered spider silk for gene therapy

Genetically engineered spider silk could help overcome a major barrier to the use of gene therapy in everyday medicine, according to a new study that reported development and successful initial laboratory ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Aug 10, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Spider silk glue inspires next-generation technology

(PhysOrg.com) -- Water affects orb spider web glue differently than cobweb glue. Orb web glue reacts to humidity, but cobweb glue resists it. These findings by a University of Akron research team inspire the ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jul 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast