Most adult spiders die before winter, leaving behind their egg cases for next year. Yet, this one silk-spinner at Ijams seemed festive in its dying days, decorating a tall native grass for the upcoming holidays.
Spider silk is stronger than steel, yet flexible. Scientists have been trying to create fabric from the strands of silk but have largely failed until last year. In 2009, "Time" magazine reported that British textiles expert Simon Peers and American fashion designer Nicholas Godley have succeeded in weaving a 11-feet long stretch of remarkably strong cloth.
The down-side: it took 7o people in Madagascar collecting the silk from more than a million golden orb spiders. They worked for four years at a ultimate cost of half a million dollars, so the cloth is probably not for everyday use.
-Photo at Ijams Nature Center
-Thanks Karen Sue
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1 comment:
Beautiful shot! And wow, that's expensive cloth, but really cool that they actually managed to do it. How is it different from silk, I wonder?
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