An international collaboration has provided the first insights into a new type of silk produced by the very unusual Australian basket-web spider, which uses it to build a lobster pot web that protects its eggs and trap prey.
Materials Science
Oct 19, 2020
0
116
Spiders have an unfortunate media presence. No number of studies emphasising their ecological value or the potential of their silks to inspire wonder materials can overcome the negative press. The more emotive and sensational ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 1, 2020
0
2
A team of University of Queensland researchers has revealed why male funnel web spiders develop much deadlier venom than their female counterparts.
Plants & Animals
Sep 21, 2020
4
587
Maybe this year's Ig Nobels, the spoof prizes for dubious but humorous scientific achievement, should have been renamed the Ick Nobels.
Other
Sep 18, 2020
1
507
During a research stay in the highlands of Colombia conducted as part of her doctorate, Charlotte Hopfe, Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheibel at the Biomaterials research group at the University ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 16, 2020
0
269
Using a device small enough to fit on the head of a pin, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign gained new knowledge about the properties of polymer fibers at the nanoscale—knowledge that can inform ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 1, 2020
0
91
New biomaterials developed at the University of Bayreuth eliminate risk of infection and facilitate healing processes. A research team led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Scheibel has succeeded in combining these material properties ...
Materials Science
Aug 28, 2020
1
289
Running into an unseen spiderweb in the woods can be scary enough, but what if you had to worry about a spiderweb—and the spider—being catapulted at you? That's what happens to insects in the Amazon rain forests of Peru, ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 17, 2020
0
617
Protons are subatomic particles with a positive electric charge. Proton translocation plays a significant role in natural phenomena and manmade technologies. But it remains challenging to control proton conduction and fabrication ...
A team of researchers from Seoul National University and Eumam Middle School has developed a type of ionic spiderweb that is able to imitate dual functions found with real spiderwebs. In their paper published in the journal ...
