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It's elastic, stronger than steel, it has light weight and we can't fabricate it. At least not up until now. After decades of trying to replicate it in experiments ranging all the way from lab dishes to silk-secreting goats, German researchers have succeeded in creating an artificial spider duct that can &#... |
29 April 2008
06:54 GMT |
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Silk, the highly sought-for item in the ancient Rome, was brought from China by caravans that had to cross thousands of kilometers of deserts, rough terrain and abrupt mountains. To all these, the frequent attacks of the bandits added, in the wild passes of the mountains, on the road whose end was on the eastern shor... |
25 March 2008
09:46 GMT |
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Viking men may have been cruel warriors, but their women were really hot. Viking women wore colored-silk gowns embellished with metallic breast coverings and long trains. This type of wardrobe was found in a tomb from the 10th century discovered in the Pskov region (Russia), close to Novgorod. "Now we can say the pre... |
27 February 2008
03:06 GMT |
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1. Those large hairy spiders are called tarantulas. Their name comes from the port of Taranto (southern Italy). The locals correlated the convulsions and uncontrolled jumps of the victim of a tarantula bite to the local dance of tarantella, and hence the name of these spiders. Biologically, they are included in the f... |
20 February 2008
14:06 GMT |
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The spider silk is extremely lightweight but at the same time as strong as steel, even if its structure is based on molecular forces 100 to 1,000 times weaker than those encountered in the steel's metallic bonds, or even Kevlar's covalent bonds. A new MIT research has used theoretical modeling, laws of ther... |
19 February 2008
04:16 GMT |
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Spiders are not insects, as most of us think so, and we try to imitate their silk, which has amazing properties. It is five times more powerful than steel and extremely elastic, stretching by 30% more than nylon (2-4 times before breaking off). Still, it does not vibrate like an elastic web for circus jumps, as it wo... |
8 December 2007
08:29 GMT |
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Scuba diving has not been invented by people. A small dark spider comes with a spectacular example. The diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) has a 9-15 mm long body covered by very fine and dense small hairs and lives in vegetated, fresh, not running water. Even if this spider lives in the water, it cannot breath... |
24 November 2007
04:11 GMT |
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Living organisms have amazing abilities. Toddlers fall and hit their head, older children fall from trees or bikes, sportsmen experience violent fractures, car drivers experience various accidents and we escape in most cases without much damage being done to our bodies. This mix of strength and resistance on relative... |
1 November 2007
11:25 GMT |
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The black widow is perhaps most famous for its deadly venom, but few know that this spider's dragline silk is a standout compared to other spider silks due to its superior strength, toughness and extensibility, a combination that makes it absorb huge energy quantities. Now a team at the University of California,... |
15 June 2007
04:21 GMT |
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Spider silk is extremely flexible, yet it is one of the strongest materials found in nature: at the same thickness, it is stronger than the steel. That's why researchers have been trying for so long to imitate it. Now an Oxford University team shows that if you intend to spin silk like a spider, then you should ... |
5 June 2007
08:33 GMT |
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Silk and purple (a pigment obtained from a marine snail) were two of the most costly products of the antiquity, as purple silk was the mark of royalty. Now a Japanese team has genetically engineered silkworms to directly synthesize purple silk. This research would change the silk color at the genetic level. "The expe... |
10 May 2007
09:24 GMT |
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For the beginning, spiders are not insects. They are perhaps the most detested bugs for whom we have a natural fear, just like in the case of snakes. Indeed, a spider bite could kill a monkey, so we have this deep imprinted in our genes. In many cultures, including the Western, they are associated with sorcery. In o... |
2 May 2007
04:16 GMT |
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Believe it or not, but a spider thread, related to its thickness, is stronger than steel and more elastic than rubber. It is one of the most expandable, resistant to tearing, and tough materials found in nature. Being organic and non-toxic, the spider silk would represent the ideal material for a large array of medi... |
5 April 2007
08:40 GMT |
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