scarykitties on 30/9/2009 at 03:36
Astounding! Thanks for the news.
I wonder what the tapestry feels like.
Vasquez on 30/9/2009 at 05:13
What a crazy thing to do! But it is beautiful! :)
Ko0K on 30/9/2009 at 05:46
So, apparently the thread is stronger than that you'd get from silk worms, but it doesn't seem to be commercially viable. Rumor had it that the US military was at one point looking into spider silk as well for body armor application, but perhaps that fizzled because of similar manufacturing challenges?
Anyway, I personally think that was a bit of a wasted effort. I would've sold the thread spool to Victoria's Secret. 'Stretchy and strong' sounds like something that would be put to better use wrapped around broads' asses than something that's displayed but can't be touched.
dvrabel on 30/9/2009 at 08:15
It's difficult to farm spiders because they eat each other.
Aerothorn on 30/9/2009 at 08:51
Oh yeah, no one is claiming that this is something that anyone else should do (not time-efficient), but it was an awesome exercise, no doubt. Plus, given how strong spider silk is, that thing will probably last a long time.
scarykitties on 30/9/2009 at 11:53
Quote Posted by dvrabel
It's difficult to farm spiders because they eat each other.
It's probably also because silk worms can just be boiled in their cocoon, then have it unspun into a long, single thread, while I guess you'd have to pull the spider silk straight from its spinnerets.
SD on 30/9/2009 at 14:44
Quote Posted by Ko0K
So, apparently the thread is stronger than that you'd get from silk worms, but it doesn't seem to be commercially viable. Rumor had it that the US military was at one point looking into spider silk as well for body armor application, but perhaps that fizzled because of similar manufacturing challenges?
Last I heard they were going to splice the gene into goats, then retrieve silk from the milk.
d0om on 30/9/2009 at 14:48
The trouble is the silk is only actually formed when it leaves the spider through the spinnerets. If you just get goats milk full of spider silk protein, you don't get usable silk.
scarykitties on 30/9/2009 at 14:51
Unless some poor sap's going to get stuck with the tedious job of pulling string from a goat's tit. Unless I'm mistaken, silk is naturally a liquid, but it immediately hardens when it touches the air, and, when pulled correctly, is formed into a strong thread (silk).
