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Nanoscale Optical Fiber From Spider Silk

Posted by timothy on from the where-are-those-goats dept.

Makarand writes "Engineers may soon be able to make the finest optical fibers with some help from spiders. To make optical fibers narrower for nanoscale applications, researchers coated spider silk fibers with glassy material which was later removed by baking. The spider Stegodyphus pacificus, a native of the Middle East and South Asia, spins the thinnest known silk which promises to yield optical fibers with a diameter of around two nanometres!"

4 of 27 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Punny by mbstone · · Score: 3, Funny

    Trademark lawyers will note this as the day the term "World Wide Web" became merely descriptive.

  2. It's about time... by JDWTopGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Finally, a bug that's beneficial to computers!

    --
    Ron Paul 2012
  3. Exploitation? by j-turkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Does this mean the vegans will boycott silk fiber-optic communications?

    --Turkey
    --

    -Turkey

  4. Re:Grr... by K3lvin · · Score: 4, Funny

    >NOTE FOR ALL USA CITIZENS: Replace all instances of the word "nanometre" with "1/25188917" inches.

    OR 0,00000000004 olympic sized swimming pools!