Seeing an abseiling spider descend gracefully using its dragline silk instead of spinning unpredictably and uncontrollably, led us to try and understand the science behind it.
Plants & Animals
Aug 9, 2017
0
303
A team of architects and chemists from the University of Cambridge has designed super-stretchy and strong fibres which are almost entirely composed of water, and could be used to make textiles, sensors and other materials. ...
Materials Science
Jul 10, 2017
1
515
The last time you watched a spider drop from the ceiling on a line of silk, it likely descended gracefully on its dragline instead of spiraling uncontrollably, because spider silk has an unusual ability to resist twisting ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 7, 2017
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163
Possibly the strongest hybrid silk fibers to date have been created by scientists in Sweden using all-renewable resources. Combining spider silk proteins with nanocellulose from wood, the process offers a low-cost and scalable ...
Nanomaterials
May 18, 2017
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17
Spider silks, the stuff of spider webs, are a materials engineer's dream: they can be stronger than steel at a mere fraction of weight, and also can be tougher and more flexible. Spider silks also tend not to provoke the ...
Biotechnology
May 1, 2017
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261
Spiders build webs, shelters and egg sacs from fine tough silk fibers. To apply these fibers, they must be properly attached to substrates or other threads and must cope with loading in highly-variable directions.
Plants & Animals
Apr 13, 2017
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4
Our muscles are amazing structures. With the trigger of a thought, muscle filaments slide past each other and bundles of contracting fibers pull on the bones moving our bodies. The triggered stretching behavior of muscle ...
Materials Science
Jan 31, 2017
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210
Supple, light and biodegradable but stronger than steel: researchers said Monday they have succeeded in producing synthetic spider silk, one of nature's strongest materials.
Biochemistry
Jan 9, 2017
1
825
A chance meeting between a spider expert and a chemist has led to the development of antibiotic synthetic spider silk.
Materials Science
Jan 4, 2017
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399
Two years ago, a research team led by the University of Oxford revealed that, when plucked like a guitar string, spider silk transmits vibrations across a wide range of frequencies, carrying information about prey, mates ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 6, 2016
1
993
