Tag: Silk

I’ve never been a fly, so I don’t know what it’s like to be eaten by a carnivorous plant. Suffice it to say, I’m sure it’s rather unpleasant. Still, I’ve always been fascinated by these plants that can open and close to grab their lunch, and then digest them for nutrients.

I’d bet at some point a scientist for Oscorp thought feeding a special spider something cool would be a great idea. Instead, we ended up with Spider-Man and a host of villains. I can’t help but think that a group of scientists at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China might have inadvertently created the origin story for a C-grade Marvel comic book.

Scientists at the Tufts School of Engineering and at the University of Illinois have created simple electronic devices that harmlessly dissolve after a set period of time. The scientists call their invention transient electronics, devices which could have a huge impact on medical devices and on the environment in general.

Yet another proof that geeks are indeed cool: A bunch of scientists – whose professional motto is “Why not?” – decided to combine certain metals with the silk of the Araneus spider, and came up with “super-strength spider silk.”