DailyDirt: Spiders, Man!
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Spiders are just fascinating creatures -- not only because they have a crazy number of appendages, but also because they create intricate webs and seem to have incredibly complex behaviors for such small animals. To top it off, we're learning something new about the properties of spider silk all the time. Here are just a few examples.- Japanese researchers have used spider silk as violin strings. This is what it sounds like when
dovesflies cry.... [url] - Surprisingly, certain spider silk is an excellent conductor of heat -- better than silicon, aluminum or iron -- and becomes more conductive as it stretches. Silk threads from "golden silk orbweavers" could teach us more about thermal conductivity and have applications in heat sinks or textile fiber technology. [url]
- It took a million spiders to produce enough silk to make an 11'x4' rug. It also took 70 people four years to collect all that silk. [url]
- To discover more interesting biological curiosities, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]
Filed Under: biology, heat conductor, materials, silk, spider silk, spider silk rug, spiders, violins
