Spiders make their webs from silk. Silk is combined with these threads to increase strength and flexibility and gives a beautiful appearance to the spider web. Silk is an amazing material that is found in warm regions all over the world. There are different silk cells that can produce silk with different characteristics and different uses. Each of these silk glands performs a specific task in the spider’s body. There are usually seven silk glands in the spider’s body
Spiders have a structure called a web on their abdomen. This structure is usually placed under the back part of their body. All these are special organs for weaving silk. At the end of each filament, there is a set of tubular structures. From each of them, a separate silk part comes out. These parts are similar to a frozen hose. The suction through the spider’s leg causes the web to come out. When the thread inside the silk is inside the spider’s body, it is liquid. Spiders instinctively follow a structure to spin a web
Silk is not only used for weaving yarn. For example, flying spiders use small silk cells to hide during the day. They make a sleeping bag for themselves. Many of them use these silks to protect their eggs
Another use of silk is to create a line. He takes care of them so they don’t fall down. They can take this line with them in long distances so that they don’t lose their way. Also, by using the line woven through silk, they can go to higher heights and be sure that they will not be thrown to the ground
We all know that spider silk is one of the most incredible things in nature. These thin wires are as strong as steel and stronger than that; They have strange abilities that scientists have recently discovered. A group of different scientists found that when these fibers are exposed to a certain level of moisture, they suddenly contract, and this feature can make them a useful material for producing artificial muscles
Although scientists already knew that the silk of spider webs shrinks when exposed to moisture. But this extremely high shrinkage in response to moisture will be very effective in preserving the fibers in the morning dew. In addition, these strong fibers have high vibration properties; Therefore, the spider will quickly hear the sound of an insect caught in its webs
The group working on this topic noticed that these fibers not only shrink but also twist in response to moisture. The researchers hung a weight from the strings like a suspended pendulum and were surprised to see that when the humidity reached a certain level, the pendulum began to swing. To determine how spider webs do this, the team tested these webs in the laboratory and designed computer models of their molecular makeup. The main factor of this twisting is an amino acid called “proline”, which is found in the main protein of spider silk called “MaSp2”. When the strands get wet, the water molecules break some of the hydrogen bonds in an uneven way, causing the strands to twist
In addition, the team found that rotation only occurs in one direction and only starts when the relative humidity reaches something like 70 percent. While scientists aren’t yet sure why a spider would need fibers that twist when wet, they do know that these webs would be useful for many robotic or other device applications
Anata Tarakanova, the author of this study, says: “Silk’s unique tendency to contract and its twisting behavior in response to external factors such as moisture can be used to design nanoscale silk materials such as robots and small sensors stimulated by moisture, smart fabrics and generators. Green energy is useful
