Why are cobwebs both strong and tough?
Advertisement
Anna Reis, an expert at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute (not involved in this experiment), said that cobwebs must undergo metamorphosis when they leave spider’s body. When fibroin is still in the glands, they must be suspended in a “very high concentration” liquid form, almost as viscous as toothpaste.
The researchers also found that the dehydration of the liquid fibroin during movement is a prerequisite for this self-assembly. Further research showed that timing and efficiency are both key elements of the spinning process. If the cobwebs harden too early, they will block the spider’s glands; if too late, the spider may only spin unshaped liquid.
Advertisement
This paper replaced real spider with a simplified laboratory model. Angela Alicia-Serrano, a cobweb researcher at the University of Akron (not involved in this experiment), said that this meaningful study could give people a glimpse of the mechanism and process of spinning. “We have seen so many experiments about the beginning and end of this process, but we haven't seen any about the important process between.”
Advertisement
- Previous article
- How to Get Gold and Diamond for Free
- Next article
- Fortnite Tops 350 Million Registered Players
Advertisement
OTHER NEWS
Local News’ Transition to Paid Content In the Context of Layoffs, Mergers and Bankruptcies III
BY Jessica
Fortnite Tops 350 Million Registered Players
BY Lori
E-Commerce Giant Amazon Launches Online Academy “Amazon Academy” in India
BY Turner
Flipkart and Amazon Will Face Fierce Competition from JioMart
BY Shawn
Can Data Lie? Social Media Titans’ Super-Speed Recovery and the Pervasive Disputes (III)
BY Clark
2021 Social Media Prediction: Twitter—Improving User Experience from Details (I)
BY Young
RECENT NEWS
-
How to Download and Install Wyze App for Free?
-
How to Download and Install VIX for Free?
-
How to Download and Install Minecraft?
-
How to Get Free Units in Marvel Contest of Champions?
-
How to Get Free Strawberries in Transformice?
-
Indian Kids-Focused Fintech Platform Junio Has Raised Seed Capita