Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Researchers Make Spiders Produce Silk Strengthened With Graphene

Posted by samzenpus on from the strongest-there-is dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Italian researchers in Trent have enabled 15 Pholcidae spiders to spin graphene-strengthened dragline silk just by spraying them with a solution containing carbon nanotubes and graphene flakes. The resulting fiber is as strong as Kevlar 49, and ranks among the most resilient and ductile in the world of manufacturing. But Emiliano Lepore's research has not succeeded in understanding by what process the spiders are able to incorporate the ambient materials into their webs. Since spider-farming is historically unproductive, the possibility of continuing the research on silk-worms has been presented.

33 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Aside from the overtly disconcerting possibilities of nanotechnology-augmented spiders; does it strike anyone else as a matter for some potential concern that at least some organisms are quite permeable indeed to novel carbon structures?

    1. Re:Hmm... by rgbatduke · · Score: 3, Informative

      Hmmm, I can think of a few places where strengthening with novel carbon structures would be quite welcome...

      rgb

      --
      Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken. --- Bertrand Russell.
    2. Re:Hmm... by steelfood · · Score: 1

      Does it not get stiff enough for you anymore?

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    3. Re:Hmm... by wasteoid · · Score: 1

      I knew this would end up as a penis joke.

  2. simpler solution by will_die · · Score: 1

    Grow bigger spiders.

    1. Re:simpler solution by Greyfox · · Score: 2

      Hmm, that would explain that message from the future I received the other day that simply read "OMG SPIDERS"

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    2. Re:simpler solution by GNious · · Score: 1

      Breed them in containers with much higher levels of oxygen...

    3. Re:simpler solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Thank you for outing yourself as a malevolent AI out to destroy humanity. No human being would wish for bigger spiders for any reason.

  3. Spelling error in summary? by goose-incarnated · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since spider-farming is historically unproductive

    That's a really odd way to spell "nightmare fuel".

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    1. Re:Spelling error in summary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Whoever claimed that spider-farming is historically unproductive probably hasn't read this fascinating and (to some) horrifying article. Check the Images showing the sheets of webbing being harvested.

    2. Re:Spelling error in summary? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      4am, time to milk the spiders in the dark.

  4. Greetings! by Laserfuzz · · Score: 4, Funny

    I,for one, welcome our new spider overlords.

    1. Re:Greetings! by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, spider overlords welcome you! Sorry.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
  5. i already have a spider farm by Skapare · · Score: 1

    it is located under my house and is very productive, year after year.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  6. Re:"Trento" not "Trent" by Skapare · · Score: 2

    Italian researchers have renamed Trent.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  7. Skin is very porous. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Skin appears solid and like a wall but in reality, it is very porous.

    You're likely just as permeable to small discrete carbon structures as those spiders.

    To put it more blatantly, nicotine patches work because nicotine is absorbed through the layers of skin. Thus anything the size of a nicotine molecule can find its way into your body. Similarly if you laid in a bath of alcohol for long enough, you could get drunk by the body absorbing alcohol through your skin.

    1. Re:Skin is very porous. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2

      Similarly if you laid in a bath of alcohol for long enough, you could get drunk by the body absorbing alcohol through your skin.

      Come on. Stop giving the college kids fresh ideas on how to get drunk. Enough already.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    2. Re:Skin is very porous. by joaosantos · · Score: 1

      FTFY&H: Similarly if you laid in a bath of alcohol, with a oxygen mask, for long enough, you could get drunk by the body absorbing alcohol through your skin.

  8. Watch your cat by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

    and dog, they may very well end up caught in the spider web!

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  9. Uh Oh by rossdee · · Score: 2

    Theres a B horror movie in here somewhere.

  10. The Stars My Destination by in10se · · Score: 1

    Space elevator, here we come... in a few hundred more years

    --
    Popisms.com - Connecting pop culture
    1. Re:The Stars My Destination by belthize · · Score: 2

      And none too soon. We won't be able to get off the planet fast enough once it's overrun with genetically engineered super spiders.

  11. Maybe they should try using sewer plants by random+coward · · Score: 1

    It seems that if you use a sewer treatment plant as a spider farm you will get much better results.

    1. Re:Maybe they should try using sewer plants by turp182 · · Score: 1

      Having been bitten by a brown recluse as a child, I find your link to be utterly terrifying.

      I can handle bees and wasps, I've been teaching my kids to be still when they are around. But spiders is where I draw the line and declare war. And I win.

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
  12. Re:Spider farming unproductive? by LeadSongDog · · Score: 1

    Have they tried incubating the spider eggs in childrens ears?

    Couldn't, as they already had beans stored there.

    --
    Oh, I'm sorry sir, I thought you were referring to me, Mr. Wensleydale.
  13. Space elevator yet? by GPS+Pilot · · Score: 1

    But is it strong enough to build a space elevator? That is the killer app for high-tensile-strength materials.

    --
    That that is is that that that that is not is not.
  14. spider farming by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 1

    Since spider-farming is historically unproductive

    I think the adjectives "creepy" and "disturbing" come to mind long before "unproductive" when hearing of "spider farming".

  15. Not if you're a dwarf by xvan · · Score: 2

    Since spider-farming is historically unproductive,

    Not if you're a dwarf living in a fortress that somehow managed to capture a giant cave spider.

  16. Minty Floss by marciot · · Score: 1

    Spray them with mint and you get floss.

  17. Re:Radiated perhaps? by Zeroko · · Score: 1

    Skitter would approve, too. Well, unless she thought someone was competing with her.

  18. Just imagine Gary Larson's take on that. by lurking_giant · · Score: 1

    From the far side Spiders on the slide..."If we pull this off... we eat like kings" http://i48.photobucket.com/alb...

  19. Re:Radiated perhaps? by SpeedBump0619 · · Score: 1

    I don't know...This seems like some kind of alternate reality setup for the Venom creation story. *I'm* not wearing anything woven from this stuff is all I'm saying.

  20. Re:I, for one... by fisted · · Score: 1

    You're doing it wrong.

    --
    CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!