Inspired by Spider-Man, scientists recreate web-slinging technology | Hacker News Reader

Inspired by Spider-Man, scientists recreate web-slinging technology

scienceclock.com

64 pointsohjeez17 comments

> Spiders don’t actually shoot their silk into the air. They make contact with a surface first, attach a strand, then pull and arrange their webs with careful choreography.

Spiders don't shoot their silk into the air when spinning a web. Some spiders, however, migrate by ballooning: they stand upside down, rear ends (and spinnerets) in the air, and send a thread of silk skyward, where it catches the wind or heat currents and lifts the spider toward parts unknown.

This beautiful BBC video about Darwin's Bark Spider (a species that spits the longest silk threads and makes the largest spider webs), narrated by Sir David Attenborough is phenomenal:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gSwvH6YhqIM

Spiders and Nature are incredible!

> they stand upside down, rear ends (and spinnerets) in the air, and send a thread of silk skyward, where it catches the wind or heat currents and lifts the spider toward parts unknown.

That was such a great sad-happy scene in Charlotte’s Web.

I want to see a film about the adventures of Peter Parker bitten by that kind of spider

Anecdote: I feel I've seen a spider drop from the thread I'm holding it from, and hang from a completely new one as it falls

This is called a drop or anchor line, spiders use them often for climbing smooth or difficult surfaces slowly and for quick escapes.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_silk#Uses

Do they send it or do they unspool it as the wind begins to tug at the little bit hanging out of them?

Can't push a rope.

You can feed a rope out of something (see: 3D printer extruders)

The article fails to explain how the fibers solidify instantly. Reading the actual research paper reveals the critical technical innovation: dopamine accelerates the transition by pulling water away from the silk, and a coaxial needle setup shoots the silk solution surrounded by acetone. The acetone triggers solidification, then evaporates in mid-air. This is the actual breakthrough.

You're wrong. The article does say this.

It's a shame that the paper doesn't reference Steve Ditko or Stan Lee or Peter Parker. It's only fair to acknowledge prior art.

Let's not forget the spider that bit him too, he wouldn't be the man he is without the spider.

"scientist" needs some sort of dimunitive expression or grading system, corporate, government......entertainment

ie: grade 2 entertainment scientist

With AI taking jobs and scientists giving us web shooters, I guess we’re all becoming freelancer Spider-Men now.

You know, I'm something of a Spider-Man myself

Hey I've got a shootable sticky protein solution too.

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