Science Cartoon on Novel Liquid wire inspired by spiders' web

Novel Liquid Wire… An inspiration from spiders’ web

Scientists from the University of Oxford, UK and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France worked on spider silk and published paper in Proceeding of National Academy of Science on 16^th May 2016.

They studied the properties of spiders’ webs in context to subtle balance between fiber elasticity as well as droplet surface tension and used it to create composite fibers in the laboratory which, just like the spider's capture silk, extend like a solid and compress like a liquid. These novel insights may lead to new bio-inspired technology.

Journal Reference: Hervé Elettro, Sébastien Neukirch, Fritz Vollrath, and Arnaud Antkowiak. In-drop capillary spooling of spider capture thread inspires hybrid fibers with mixed solid–liquid mechanical properties. PNAS, 2016 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1602451113

Article on Science Daily: "Scientists create novel 'liquid wire' material inspired by spiders'capture silk: Secret of always-taut spider threads inspires new material."ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 May 2016.

Details for the University site: http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2016-05-16-scientists-create-novel-liquid-wire-material-inspired-spiders-capture-silk

Watch a video showing the technique here: https://youtu.be/Ofe1X2duH3s