Research finds why rappelling spiders spin in control
July 7 (UPI) -- Researchers found in a recent study that spider silk partially yields when twisted, which prevents rappelling spiders from spinning out of control.The study, published in the July edition of Applied Physics Letters, showed that, unlike human hair, metal wires or synthetic fibers, spider silk partially yields when twisted to resist spinning."Spider silk is very different from other, more conventional materials," Dabiao Liu of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said in a press release. "We find that the dragline from the web hardly twists, so we want to know why."Spiders use dragline silk for the outer rim and spokes of their webs as well as a lifeline for dropping to the ground.Researchers used a torsion pendulum to investigate dragline silk from two species of g...