Researchers Make Spiders Produce Silk Strengthened With Graphene 59

Posted by samzenpus on Friday May 08, 2015 @06:30AM from the strongest-there-is dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Italian researchers in Trent have enabled 15 Pholcidae spiders to spin graphene-strengthened dragline silk just by spraying them with a solution containing carbon nanotubes and graphene flakes. The resulting fiber is as strong as Kevlar 49, and ranks among the most resilient and ductile in the world of manufacturing. But Emiliano Lepore's research has not succeeded in understanding by what process the spiders are able to incorporate the ambient materials into their webs. Since spider-farming is historically unproductive, the possibility of continuing the research on silk-worms has been presented.

Researchers Make Spiders Produce Silk Strengthened With Graphene

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Radiated perhaps? (Score:1)

by fey000 ( 1374173 ) writes:

Did you get the spiders from Marvel?
- - Re: (Score:1)
    
    by Zeroko ( 880939 ) writes:
    
    Skitter would approve, too. Well, unless she thought someone was competing with her.
  - Re: (Score:2)
    
    by SpeedBump0619 ( 324581 ) writes:
    
    I don't know...This seems like some kind of alternate reality setup for the Venom creation story. *I'm* not wearing anything woven from this stuff is all I'm saying.
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by LeadSongDog ( 1120683 ) writes:
  
  Have they tried incubating the spider eggs in childrens ears?
  Couldn't, as they already had beans stored there.
Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) writes: on Friday May 08, 2015 @06:36AM (#49645621) Journal

Aside from the overtly disconcerting possibilities of nanotechnology-augmented spiders; does it strike anyone else as a matter for some potential concern that at least some organisms are quite permeable indeed to novel carbon structures?

- Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Informative)
  
  by rgbatduke ( 1231380 ) writes: <rgb&phy,duke,edu> on Friday May 08, 2015 @06:54AM (#49645689) Homepage
  
  Hmmm, I can think of a few places where strengthening with novel carbon structures would be quite welcome...
  rgb
  
  - Re: (Score:2)
    
    by steelfood ( 895457 ) writes:
    
    Does it not get stiff enough for you anymore?
    - Re: (Score:2)
      
      by wasteoid ( 1897370 ) writes:
      
      I knew this would end up as a penis joke.
- Skin is very porous. (Score:1)
  
  by Anonymous Coward writes:
  
  Skin appears solid and like a wall but in reality, it is very porous.
  You're likely just as permeable to small discrete carbon structures as those spiders.
  To put it more blatantly, nicotine patches work because nicotine is absorbed through the layers of skin. Thus anything the size of a nicotine molecule can find its way into your body. Similarly if you laid in a bath of alcohol for long enough, you could get drunk by the body absorbing alcohol through your skin.
  - - Re: (Score:1)
      
      by joaosantos ( 1519241 ) writes:
      
      FTFY&H: Similarly if you laid in a bath of alcohol, with a oxygen mask, for long enough, you could get drunk by the body absorbing alcohol through your skin.
  - Re: (Score:3)
    
    by 140Mandak262Jamuna ( 970587 ) writes:
    
    Similarly if you laid in a bath of alcohol for long enough, you could get drunk by the body absorbing alcohol through your skin.
    Come on. Stop giving the college kids fresh ideas on how to get drunk. Enough already.
- Maybe they should try using sewer plants (Score:2)
  
  by random coward ( 527722 ) writes:
  
  It seems that if you use a sewer treatment plant as a spider farm [entsoc.org] you will get much better results.
  - Re: (Score:2)
    
    by turp182 ( 1020263 ) writes:
    
    Having been bitten by a brown recluse as a child, I find your link to be utterly terrifying.
    I can handle bees and wasps, I've been teaching my kids to be still when they are around. But spiders is where I draw the line and declare war. And I win.
- Re: (Score:3)
  
  by Skapare ( 16644 ) writes:
  
  Italian researchers have renamed Trent.
simpler solution (Score:2)

by will_die ( 586523 ) writes:

Grow bigger spiders.
- - - Re: (Score:3)
      
      by Greyfox ( 87712 ) writes:
      
      Hmm, that would explain that message from the future I received the other day that simply read "OMG SPIDERS"
  - Re: (Score:2)
    
    by GNious ( 953874 ) writes:
    
    Breed them in containers with much higher levels of oxygen...
- Re: (Score:1)
  
  by Anonymous Coward writes:
  
  Thank you for outing yourself as a malevolent AI out to destroy humanity. No human being would wish for bigger spiders for any reason.
Spelling error in summary? (Score:5, Funny)

by goose-incarnated ( 1145029 ) writes: on Friday May 08, 2015 @06:59AM (#49645701) Journal

Since spider-farming is historically unproductive
That's a really odd way to spell "nightmare fuel".

- Re:Spelling error in summary? (Score:4, Informative)
  
  by Anonymous Coward writes: on Friday May 08, 2015 @08:23AM (#49646251)
  
  Whoever claimed that spider-farming is historically unproductive probably hasn't read this fascinating and (to some) horrifying article [entsoc.org]. Check the Images showing the sheets of webbing being harvested.
  
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by Darinbob ( 1142669 ) writes:
  
  4am, time to milk the spiders in the dark.
Greetings! (Score:4, Funny)

by Laserfuzz ( 157714 ) writes: on Friday May 08, 2015 @07:06AM (#49645735)

I,for one, welcome our new spider overlords.

- Re: (Score:1)
  
  by oldmac31310 ( 1845668 ) writes:
  
  In Soviet Russia, spider overlords welcome you! Sorry.
i already have a spider farm (Score:2)

by Skapare ( 16644 ) writes:

it is located under my house and is very productive, year after year.
Watch your cat (Score:2)

by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) writes:

and dog, they may very well end up caught in the spider web!
Uh Oh (Score:3)

by rossdee ( 243626 ) writes: on Friday May 08, 2015 @07:58AM (#49646035)

Theres a B horror movie in here somewhere.

The Stars My Destination (Score:2)

by in10se ( 472253 ) writes:

Space elevator, here we come... in a few hundred more years
- Re: (Score:3)
  
  by belthize ( 990217 ) writes:
  
  And none too soon. We won't be able to get off the planet fast enough once it's overrun with genetically engineered super spiders.
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by fisted ( 2295862 ) writes:
  
  You're doing it wrong.
Space elevator yet? (Score:2)

by GPS Pilot ( 3683 ) writes:

But is it strong enough to build a space elevator [space.com]? That is the killer app for high-tensile-strength materials.
spider farming (Score:2)

by NostalgiaForInfinity ( 4001831 ) writes:

Since spider-farming is historically unproductive
I think the adjectives "creepy" and "disturbing" come to mind long before "unproductive" when hearing of "spider farming".
Not if you're a dwarf (Score:3)

by xvan ( 2935999 ) writes: on Friday May 08, 2015 @12:15PM (#49648337)

Since spider-farming is historically unproductive,
Not if you're a dwarf living in a fortress that somehow managed to capture a giant cave spider.

Minty Floss (Score:2)

by marciot ( 598356 ) writes:

Spray them with mint and you get floss.
Just imagine Gary Larson's take on that. (Score:1)

by lurking_giant ( 1087199 ) writes:

From the far side Spiders on the slide..."If we pull this off... we eat like kings" http://i48.photobucket.com/alb... [photobucket.com]

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Researchers Make Spiders Produce Silk Strengthened With Graphene 59

Researchers Make Spiders Produce Silk Strengthened With Graphene More Login

Researchers Make Spiders Produce Silk Strengthened With Graphene

Radiated perhaps? (Score:1)

Re: (Score:1)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:2)

Hmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Informative)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:2)

Skin is very porous. (Score:1)

Re: (Score:1)

Re: (Score:3)

Maybe they should try using sewer plants (Score:2)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:3)

simpler solution (Score:2)

Re: (Score:3)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:1)

Spelling error in summary? (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Spelling error in summary? (Score:4, Informative)

Re: (Score:2)

Greetings! (Score:4, Funny)

Re: (Score:1)

i already have a spider farm (Score:2)

Watch your cat (Score:2)

Uh Oh (Score:3)

The Stars My Destination (Score:2)

Re: (Score:3)

Re: (Score:2)

Space elevator yet? (Score:2)

spider farming (Score:2)

Not if you're a dwarf (Score:3)

Minty Floss (Score:2)

Just imagine Gary Larson's take on that. (Score:1)

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