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What Makes Spider Webs Tough As Steel

Posted by samzenpus on from the it's-all-how-you-spin-it dept.

sciencehabit writes "A new analysis reveals the intricacies of spider web design, showing how the unique properties of its silk turn webs into flexible yet strong traps. Computer simulations reveal that heavy forces spread over the entire net rather than stay local. Real spider silk can be either stretchy or stiff at different times, which produces threads that flex and then snap in just the right way to avoid wrecking nearby spokes."

1 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I for one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Well crap. I wish I knew I was going to be first post. I might have tried to say something Insightful instead instead of falling back to a standard /. meme. I should have known that the first time I ever post first I'd end up wasting it, and not even on purpose like everyone else!

    Let this be your lesson. With great power comes great responsibility.

    (dang, I fell back to a standard spiderman reference. I'm bad at this)