UMBC postdoctoral fellow Sarah Stellwagen and co-author Rebecca Renberg at the Army Research Lab have published the first-ever complete sequences of two genes that allow spiders to produce glue—a sticky, modified version ...
Biotechnology
Jun 05, 2019
0
727
Nature has evolved protein-based substances with mechanical properties that rival even the best synthetic materials. For example, pound for pound, spider silk is stronger and tougher than steel. But unlike steel, the natural ...
Materials Science
Apr 02, 2019
0
149
A team of biologists and physicists, led by the University of Bristol, have uncovered new insights into how antlions—one of the fiercest and most terrifying predators in the insect kingdom—build their deadly pit traps.
Plants & Animals
Mar 26, 2019
1
262
Spider silk is a self-assembling biopolymer with hydrogen bonds underlying its chemical structure, yet despite weak chemical bonding it outperforms most materials relative to mechanical performance. The biopolymer is produced ...
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 01, 2019
10
1147
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 07, 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 07, 2018
0
135
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
Spider silk is among the strongest and toughest materials in the natural world, as strong as some steel alloys with a toughness even greater than bulletproof Kevlar. Spider silk's unmatched combination of strength and toughness ...
Biotechnology
Aug 21, 2018
0
13
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in China has succeeded in using a gene editing technique to get silkworms to produce spider silk. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy ...
