Bejewelled Web

One can but wonder at spiders webs when they are brought to life by bedazzling drops of dew.

Not Many People Know That (number 9)

The silk produced by spiders comes from their spinneret glands, and they can produce a variety of types of silk depending on the function needed. The silk used for wrapping up prey, for example has different properties from that used to make webs.
The extraordinary strength of the silk has led to on-going scientific research in producing and using it in new ways.

Earlier this week spiders' silk once again made news headlines when a Japanese scientist twisted thousands of strands of silk together to make a set of violin strings - evidently the sound produced is superb.

Here are 3 more facts that:
Not Many People Know about spiders' silk

1. A herd of goats in America have been genetically modified with the silk producing gene of spiders, so the milk they produced can be spun.

2. Spiders were taken into space in 1973 to see if a weightless environment affected their ability to spin webs. - It did, and the spiders died, although it is thought that this may have been due to poor husbandry (dehydration) rather than space travel.

3. Spiders have been subjected to mood changing drugs to see if they change their web making skills. The results are astonishing. This clip is well worth watching.


You can read more about the American Goats here and the Violin Strings here.



Other blips in the Not Many People Know That series can be found tagged notmany

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