Spider Spins Electrically Charged Silk

sciencehabit writes In their quest to make ultrastrong yet ultrasmall fibers, the polymer industry may soon take a lesson from Uloborus spiders. Uloborids are cribellate spiders, meaning that instead of spinning wet, sticky webs to catch their prey, they produce a fluffy, charged, wool-like silk. A paper published online today in Biology Letters details the process for the first time. It all starts with the silk-producing cribellar gland. In contrast with other spiders, whose silk comes out of the gland intact, scientists were surprised to discover that uloborids' silk is in a liquid state when it surfaces. As the spider yanks the silk from the duct, it solidifies into nanoscale filaments. This "violent hackling" has the effect of stretching and freezing the fibers into shape. It may even be responsible for increasing their strength, because filaments on the nanoscale become stronger as they are stretched. In order to endow the fibers with an electrostatic charge, the spider pulls them over a comblike plate located on its hind legs. The technique is not unlike the so-called hackling of flax stems over a metal brush in order to soften and prepare them for thread-spinning, but in the spider's case it also gives them a charge. The electrostatic fibers are thought to attract prey to the web in the same way a towel pulled from the dryer is able to attract stray socks.

Great

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I know where all my socks went.

Hijacking top comment for serious response.

[ron_ivi]

Annoying how top comments are all stupid jokes, so I'll hijack it. It's already known that âoeBallooningâ Spiders Use Electrostatic Forces To Generate Lift [medium.com]

Re:

[ihtoit]

probably. It's a common tool used in wig making to blend or separate hair strands.

Re:

[NotQuiteReal]

There are probably lots of words you don't know. It's OK. Even I don't know ALL the words, so I look them up in a DICTIONARY.

They could have used the word "comb", but you don't get paid the big research bux if you use common-folk terminology.

NRtA, but I saw the word "sox" at the end.

[rmdingler]

Plausible condensed version of the summary:

This is what happens when all eight little spider legs run in concert across the shag carpet, sock-footed, in December.

first thought

[ihtoit]

This arachnid truly is the gecko of the bug world.

Oblig.

[LynnwoodRooster]

I for one welcome our nano-fiber creating, electricity producing arachnid overlords!

Re:

[LynnwoodRooster]

Well done, my overlords. Well done!

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Spider silk - amazing stuff

[Dutch Gun]

Spider silk is amazing stuff. Stronger than steel, tougher than kevlar, highly elastic, strong or light, sticky or dry as the need arises, instantly manufactured on demand, and even recyclable (some spiders eat their own webs to recycle the valuable proteins). An orb weaver typically has enough raw material in it's body to create three complete webs.

I recently saw a researcher demonstrating the property of a spitting spider's webs. The spitting spider, as it's name implies, actually spits a spray of sticky web at it's victim with silk-jets that vibrate back and forth at an astounding speed to create a wide spray pattern. As the web silk dries, it contracts as well, helping to bind the victim in a silk spray straightjacket.

Yeah

[Intrepid imaginaut]

My D&D group will be encountering electrified spiderwebs shortly.

Thanks nature!

I thought the point of the charge ...

[Ungrounded Lightning]

I thought the point of the charge was to make the "wooly" side-fibers of the strands wrap around the prey's limbs and/or the microscopic irregularities in the exoskeleton, tangling to it. "Tying" the fibers to the prey would have a similar binding effect to gluing them to it, without the need for glue, and lots of little fibers could make a very strong attachment.

(Stretching fibers made of long chains makes them stronger by aligning the chains along the direction of the stretch.)

Re:

[jdagius]

No, the charge makes the fibers "stand up", like what happens to your hair when you put your hand on a Van deGraff machine. Otherwise the fibers would tend to coalesce into a single cable.

It also makes the web more 'visible' to the prey, so they are statistically less likely to be ensnared, but some of the snare efficiency is regained because birds and other larger insects are also less likely to collide and require a rebuild.

I know where this is going

[PopeRatzo]

I get the feeling we're witnessing the beginnings of a superhero origin story.

Mix in a little gene-splicing, some radiation and a brilliant but shy lab assistant who's working late one night. Next thing you know, Manhattan is in shambles.

Softener

[tsa]

Never use a softener for towels. It makes them hydrophobic.

Re:

[tjb6]

Rabid towels - now that is scary.

Re:

[Dogtanian]

Never use a softener for towels. It makes them hydrophobic.

That's something I personally loathe; towels that are "lovely" and soft, but don't actually f****** get you dry!!. Thing is, it doesn't seem to be solely down to fabric softener (though that *is* a factor). A lot of new towels seem to be like that as well, softener-washed or not. Is it a coating, or is it what they're made of?

This is why I prefer cheaper and/or older towels- they do a good job of drying me when I come out of the shower. Sure, they feel a bit rougher, but I don't mind that. I'm not a masoc

Re:

[tsa]

I feel the same. I hate those fluffy soft towels that make you feel like you have a thin layer of oil on you. BTW, I think new towels are washed in softener before they are sold.

Re:

[GNious]

Towels, and lots of other fabrics, are washed in a lot of chemicals before being sold - this is done to make them more attractive.
Pro-tip: Thoroughly wash them before use!

Re:

[tsa]

Indeed! Many people forget that, and of course you want to try your new pristine towel right away, and then it's a disappointment.

alternative energy to adore!

[catmistake]

We need to adapt this energy generation to sweater puppets. This will end the nuclear debates once and for all.

Re:

[Slagothor]

'We need to adapt this energy generation to "sweater meat". This will end the "energy" debate(s) once and for all.' Man will be too busy or tired with "sweater meat", to give a damn.

Phylogenetic Puzzle: Electrostatic BioGenerators

[jdagius]

The article states that Uloborus plumipes is the only known species of spider to exploit dry electostatics, all of the others spin damp 'sticky glue' webs (even though the uluborid web fluid is less viscous and remains wet outside the body until it is hackled). The linked paper has several micrographs of the spider's spinner gland (with curious stalks that resemble electrical insulators) but surprisingly no diagrams of the uluborid hackling pods [cirrusimage.com] (note that it is also the only spider that lacks venom glands