Darwin Predicted This Animals Existence Decades Before Its Discovery
NewsFix :: Science :: General Science
Page 1 of 1
Darwin Predicted This Animals Existence Decades Before Its Discovery
http://io9.com/darwin-predicted-this-animals-existence-decades-before-1703223208
Guest- Guest
Re: Darwin Predicted This Animals Existence Decades Before Its Discovery
That's amazing, but then again, Darwin's breakthrough was one of those things that seems so simple but has so many more subtle implications, like how a resource is an opportunity for something to survive, so eventually something will come along that can use it.
Re: Darwin Predicted This Animals Existence Decades Before Its Discovery
did you see this in the news
Unusual spider’s strong nano fiber web could have applications in synthetic fibers
By Justin Beach, National Monitor | January 29, 2015
Unlike most spiders the ‘garden centre spider’ spins dry webs using thousands of fibers just a few nanometers thick.
A common British spider, frequently found in garden centers is offering researchers insight into how to strengthen synthetic fibers.
The silk that most spiders produce for their webs is several micrometers thick and sticky. Uloborus plumipes, commonly known as the 'garden centre spider' or 'feather-legged lace weaver' spins filaments just a few nanometers thick.
Recently a team from Oxford University took a close look at the spider to try to understand how this unusual silk is produced.
Instead of using glue on their threads to capture prey, Uloborus plumps uses dry capture threads made of thousands of nano-scale fibres. The researchers believe that the thin filaments are able to generate an electric charge.
To discover how this is accomplished the researchers collected adult, female Uloborus spiders from Hampshire, UK garden centers. They took photos and videos of the spiders while they created webs and examined the arachnids silk generating organs using three different microscopy techniques.
The researchers were particularly interested in the cribellum which consists of one or two plates densely covered in small silk nozzles. This method of generating silk is thought to predate the more common spinnerets found in most spiders. As of 1991 only 180 types of spiders are known to have cribellum.
"Uloborus has unique cribellar glands, amongst the smallest silk glands of any spider, and it's these that yield the ultra-fine 'catching wool' of its prey capture thread. The raw material, silk dope, is funnelled through exceptionally narrow and long ducts into tiny spinning nozzles or spigots. Importantly, the silk seems to form only just before it emerges at the uniquely-shaped spigots of this spider," said Dr Katrin Kronenberger of Oxford University's Department of Zoology.
Kronenberger is, along with Fritz Vollrath, the author of a paper which appears journal Biology Letters.
According to the researchers, the cribellum of Uloborus has thousands of silk producing units. These units include ducts averaging 500 nanometers in length and spigots of about 50 nanometers.
'The swathe of gossamer, made of thousands of filaments, emerging from these spigots is actively combed out by the spider onto the capture thread's core fibres using specialist hairs on its hind legs. This combing and hackling - violently pulling the thread - charges the fibres and the electrostatic interaction of this combination spinning process leads to regularly spaced, wool-like 'puffs' covering the capture threads. The extreme thinness of each filament, in addition to the charges applied during spinning, provides Van der Waals adhesion. And this makes these puffs immensely sticky,’ said Vollrath, also of Oxford's Department of Zoology.
Synthetic fibers are generally produced by “hot-melt extrusion”. These fibers have a diameter of 10 micrometers or more. Thread diameter has a significant impact on the strength of materials. If researchers can mimic the silk production methods of the Uloborus plumipes it is possible that the nano-scale filaments could lead to much stronger and longer lasting materials.
'Studying this spider is giving us valuable insights into how it creates nano-scale filaments. If we could reproduce its neat trick of electro-spinning nano-fibres we could pave the way for a highly versatile and efficient new kind of polymer processing technology,’ said Professor Vollrath.
Unusual spider’s strong nano fiber web could have applications in synthetic fibers
By Justin Beach, National Monitor | January 29, 2015
Unlike most spiders the ‘garden centre spider’ spins dry webs using thousands of fibers just a few nanometers thick.
A common British spider, frequently found in garden centers is offering researchers insight into how to strengthen synthetic fibers.
The silk that most spiders produce for their webs is several micrometers thick and sticky. Uloborus plumipes, commonly known as the 'garden centre spider' or 'feather-legged lace weaver' spins filaments just a few nanometers thick.
Recently a team from Oxford University took a close look at the spider to try to understand how this unusual silk is produced.
Instead of using glue on their threads to capture prey, Uloborus plumps uses dry capture threads made of thousands of nano-scale fibres. The researchers believe that the thin filaments are able to generate an electric charge.
To discover how this is accomplished the researchers collected adult, female Uloborus spiders from Hampshire, UK garden centers. They took photos and videos of the spiders while they created webs and examined the arachnids silk generating organs using three different microscopy techniques.
The researchers were particularly interested in the cribellum which consists of one or two plates densely covered in small silk nozzles. This method of generating silk is thought to predate the more common spinnerets found in most spiders. As of 1991 only 180 types of spiders are known to have cribellum.
"Uloborus has unique cribellar glands, amongst the smallest silk glands of any spider, and it's these that yield the ultra-fine 'catching wool' of its prey capture thread. The raw material, silk dope, is funnelled through exceptionally narrow and long ducts into tiny spinning nozzles or spigots. Importantly, the silk seems to form only just before it emerges at the uniquely-shaped spigots of this spider," said Dr Katrin Kronenberger of Oxford University's Department of Zoology.
Kronenberger is, along with Fritz Vollrath, the author of a paper which appears journal Biology Letters.
According to the researchers, the cribellum of Uloborus has thousands of silk producing units. These units include ducts averaging 500 nanometers in length and spigots of about 50 nanometers.
'The swathe of gossamer, made of thousands of filaments, emerging from these spigots is actively combed out by the spider onto the capture thread's core fibres using specialist hairs on its hind legs. This combing and hackling - violently pulling the thread - charges the fibres and the electrostatic interaction of this combination spinning process leads to regularly spaced, wool-like 'puffs' covering the capture threads. The extreme thinness of each filament, in addition to the charges applied during spinning, provides Van der Waals adhesion. And this makes these puffs immensely sticky,’ said Vollrath, also of Oxford's Department of Zoology.
Synthetic fibers are generally produced by “hot-melt extrusion”. These fibers have a diameter of 10 micrometers or more. Thread diameter has a significant impact on the strength of materials. If researchers can mimic the silk production methods of the Uloborus plumipes it is possible that the nano-scale filaments could lead to much stronger and longer lasting materials.
'Studying this spider is giving us valuable insights into how it creates nano-scale filaments. If we could reproduce its neat trick of electro-spinning nano-fibres we could pave the way for a highly versatile and efficient new kind of polymer processing technology,’ said Professor Vollrath.
Guest- Guest
Similar topics
» Discovery of 'missing link' between the two main life-forms on Earth could explain evolution of animals, say scientists
» Happy Darwin Day!
» Darwin award contender
» 'Darwin's Dilemma' May Finally Have Been Resolved
» Canoe fraudster John Darwin to repay £40,000
» Happy Darwin Day!
» Darwin award contender
» 'Darwin's Dilemma' May Finally Have Been Resolved
» Canoe fraudster John Darwin to repay £40,000
NewsFix :: Science :: General Science
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:28 pm by Ben Reilly
» TOTAL MADNESS Great British Railway Journeys among shows flagged by counter terror scheme ‘for encouraging far-right sympathies
Wed Feb 22, 2023 5:14 pm by Tommy Monk
» Interesting COVID figures
Tue Feb 21, 2023 5:00 am by Tommy Monk
» HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:33 pm by Tommy Monk
» The Fight Over Climate Change is Over (The Greenies Won!)
Thu Dec 15, 2022 3:59 pm by Tommy Monk
» Trump supporter murders wife, kills family dog, shoots daughter
Mon Dec 12, 2022 1:21 am by 'Wolfie
» Quill
Thu Oct 20, 2022 10:28 pm by Tommy Monk
» Algerian Woman under investigation for torture and murder of French girl, 12, whose body was found in plastic case in Paris
Thu Oct 20, 2022 10:04 pm by Tommy Monk
» Wind turbines cool down the Earth (edited with better video link)
Sun Oct 16, 2022 9:19 am by Ben Reilly
» Saying goodbye to our Queen.
Sun Sep 25, 2022 9:02 pm by Maddog
» PHEW.
Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:33 pm by Syl
» And here's some more enrichment...
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:46 pm by Ben Reilly
» John F Kennedy Assassination
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:40 pm by Ben Reilly
» Where is everyone lately...?
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:33 pm by Ben Reilly
» London violence over the weekend...
Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:19 pm by Tommy Monk
» Why should anyone believe anything that Mo Farah says...!?
Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:44 am by Tommy Monk
» Liverpool Labour defends mayor role poll after turnout was only 3% and they say they will push ahead with the option that was least preferred!!!
Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:11 pm by Tommy Monk
» Labour leader Keir Stammer can't answer the simple question of whether a woman has a penis or not...
Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:58 am by Tommy Monk
» More evidence of remoaners still trying to overturn Brexit... and this is a conservative MP who should be drummed out of the party and out of parliament!
Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:50 pm by Tommy Monk
» R Kelly 30 years, Ghislaine Maxwell 20 years... but here in UK...
Fri Jul 08, 2022 5:31 pm by Original Quill