(Phys.org)—A biologist at Macquarie University in Australia has discovered the secret behind the giraffe assassin's ability to catch and kill spiders in their webs. In his paper published on the open access site Royal Society ...
(Phys.org)—Spider silk is well-known for its unusual combination of being both lightweight and extremely strong—in some cases, stronger than steel. Due to these properties, researchers have been developing spider-silk-inspired ...
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
(Phys.org)—A pair of researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark has found evidence that suggests male nursery web spiders offer potential female mates silk covered insect carcasses as a means of protection from being eaten. ...
Using web samples from black widow spiders fed with crickets, researchers at the University of Notre Dame have successfully used DNA samples to identify both the spider and the species of its prey. Such noninvasive sampling ...
Biotechnology
Jan 12, 2016
0
14
When you look at a spider web in the garden, one thing is often noticeably absent: the spider. This may be because it is lurking away from the web in a 'retreat', where it can monitor web vibrations through a proxy known ...
Materials Science
Dec 16, 2015
0
585
Scientists extracted DNA from spider webs to identify the web's spider architect and the prey that crossed it, according to this proof-of-concept study published November 25, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Charles ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 25, 2015
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10
Spider webs are notoriously sticky. Although they only take a second to swat down, shaking them off your hands can be an exercise in frustration. But that stubborn tackiness could come in handy when designing smart synthetic ...
Materials Science
Nov 18, 2015
0
26
We've all seen dewdrops form on spider webs. But what if they flung themselves off of the strands instead?
General Physics
Aug 17, 2015
0
23
Male black widow spiders destroy large sections of the female's web during courtship and wrap it up in their own silk. New research published in Animal Behaviour shows that this home-wrecking behavior deters rival males, ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 13, 2015
0
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