STEVE SNODGRASS, FLICKR
It’s Mozart meets Peter Parker. In a surprising new application, a Japanese researcher uses thousands of strands of spider silk to weave strings for a violin.
Shigeyoshi Osaki of Nara Medical University in Japan obtained “dragline” silk, the silk from which spiders hang, from 300 female Nephila maculata spiders. He then bundled together 3,000 to 5,000 individual strands of the silk, and twisted three of the bundles together, to create strings.
Under an electron microscope, each string appeared to be perfectly round due to the fact that the strands are pressed snugly together, leaving no space between them. That snug fit probably gives the strings their strength—they are stronger than traditional aluminum-coated, nylon-core strings, BBC News reported—as well as their unique tone, said Osaki. The ...
