Spiders 🕷
Do you see the spider weaving its web? Is it waiting for an insect to get caught in its web or is it repairing the broken parts of the web? We cannot know the answer to this question, but still it is very fun to guess what the spider is doing.
Spiders secrete a special material called spider silk from glands in their abdomen. They weave webs by using this secretion. They use their webs to catch their prey, build nests and protect their eggs.
Spiders can make silks with different properties according to their needs. For example, they use dragline silk, which is very durable and flexible, to build the base of their webs or to hang down from a high place. This silk is so strong that it is even stronger than steel of the same thickness.
Spiders produce sticky silk to catch their prey easily. In this way, the prey caught in the web is stuck and the spider catches it quickly. Spiders also produce silks with different properties for various purposes such as protecting their eggs, making cocoons and wrapping around their prey.
Another important feature of spider silk is that it is an eco-friendly material because it can be broken down over time by small living things in nature and can disappear without harming the environment.
It’s just like a rubber, which can be stretched and then go back to its original shape. The properties of spider silk, such as its resistance to temperatures between -40 °C and 200 °C as well as its ability to absorb and hold moisture from the air, enable that the web remains surprisingly flexible and durable.
As a unique material with all these properties, spider silk has been researched by scientists and engineers for years. Scientists are trying to understand the structure of spider silk, and engineers are trying to produce artificial materials similar to spider silks. They are looking for innovative solutions inspired by the properties of spider silk. One such example is the glass protecting birds. Spider webs have a structure that reflects UV light (type of light that we can’t see with our eyes) to keep birds away from the web. Birds can see UV light, so they recognise spider webs and do not hit them. From this feature, scientists developed bird-friendly glass. Thanks to this glass, birds don’t crash into glass-covered buildings.
So, what do engineers think about how and in which other areas spider silk can be used?
Here are some of the project ideas: Lightweight and durable building materials inspired by spider silk can be used in the production of bridges, buildings or aerospace vehicles.
Spider silk can be used in sportswear and protective clothing thanks to its durability, lightness, flexibility, air permeability and moisture absorption properties.
Spider silk can be used to produce surgical sutures that can disappear over time in the human body.
Inspired by the structure of spider silk, a more durable, flexible and eco-friendly material can be produced instead of plastic.
Durable structures can be built by analysing the geometric structure of the spider web.
The water droplets accumulated in the web also satisfy the spider’s need for water. Based on the water retention property of spider silk, devices that collect water in the air can be produced.
