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Biomaterials

Biomaterials

Spiders use physics, not chemistry, to cut silk in their webs

16 Oct 2024 Isabelle Dumé
A spider's hook-shaped fang with a strand of silk fibre laid across it
Cutting through a web: Optical microscope image of a spider's fang with a silk fibre superimposed on it. (Courtesy: Università di Trento)
Spider silk is among the toughest of all biological materials, and scientists have long been puzzled

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Isabelle Dumé is a contributing editor to Physics World
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