Tapping secrets of Aussie spider's unique silk

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.

Cork the key to unlocking the potential of graphene

Scientists have taken inspiration from one of the oldest natural materials to exploit the extraordinary qualities of graphene, a material set to revolutionise fields from computers and batteries to composite materials.

The earliest stages of planet formation

(PhysOrg.com) -- Small dust particles in a disk of gas around a young star, according to current models, gradually coagulate during the first million years until kilometer-sized objects are formed. These in turn coalesce ...

New findings on the structure of graphite oxides in alcohols

(Phys.org)—The structure of graphite oxide surprisingly expands when cooled in methanol or ethanol. Also, graphite oxide selectively absorbs methanol from water-methanol mixtures. Two new studies by physicists at Umeå ...

Lungfish teeth could hold key to better cars, planes

(PhysOrg.com) -- The tooth enamel of lungfish and garfish could provide the basis for new material to make lighter more efficient aircraft or vehicles, says a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) physics researcher.

New family of composite structures

Material scientists at ETH-Zürich are working on composite materials that mimic the structure of seashells. Such complex structures are produced using tiny magnetic particles which guide the composites' stiffer elements ...

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