Home

On:

Scientists are trying to figure out what makes the fiber that spiders spin at least five times as strong as piano wire. Spider silk may eventually become a medical miracle that can produce skin grafts for burn victims, helps knit broken bones together and may one day even be used to make light weight bulletproof vests.

Spider silk is an exceptional biological polymer, related to collagen (the stuff of skin and bones) but much more complex in its structure. Chemists are studying its molecular structure in an effort to produce materials ranging from bulletproof vests to artificial tendons.
read more

On:

As if cannibals and chupacabras weren’t enough, two people died when swarms of venomous spiders invaded a town in India. This is the country that has recently been plagued by hoardes of mugging monkeys. The citizens of Sadiya were celebrating a Hindu festival when swarms of highly aggressive spiders suddenly appeared. Local resident Jintu Gogoi spent a day in the hospital with pain and nausea after being bitten, and says that, weeks later, his finger is still black and swollen.
read more

On:

Some new cars have special problems, including animal invasions. For instance, Mazda has had to recall 65,000 new cars because of an infestation of spiders in the hoses leading to their gas tanks.read more

On:

It’s not just birds that are ending up in the wrong places due to global warming?it’s SPIDERS too, and some of them can be dangerous?for our crops and (in some cases) for US, since some of these spiders can BITE!

In BBC News, Rebecca Morelle quotes John Partridge of the British Arachnological Society as saying that his organization has had an increase in the number of enquiries about “strange spiders.” According to Partridge, “We are certainly getting more spiders coming into the UK – and it seems that more are spreading around the country once they are in.”
read more