spiders

Scientists found that combining the notoriously flimsy anticancer protein p53 with a domain from a spider silk protein resulted in a more stable hybrid that’s more potent and easier for cells to synthesize.

Nan Songer, a spider expert living in California, played an integral part in the Allies’ success in World War II by supplying silk for bombsights.

During their escape, male spiders can reach speeds in excess of 3 kilometers per hour thanks to their springy front legs.

In work that has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers present evidence that microbes can and do live inside the venom glands of several dangerous species. It remains unclear whether they’re to blame for infections linked to bites.

Selected Images of the Day from the-scientist.com

The silk draglines made by zebra jumping spiders are tougher than the silk webbing of orb weaver spiders, even though they’re made at 25 to 35 times the speed.

Bridge spiders “outsource” their hearing by building webs that double as acoustic arrays, allowing them to perceive sounds from great distances.

Scientists from MIT reveal the hidden music in spiderwebs.

In Chapter 15, “Above the Falls,” author Jonathan Meiburg recounts an evening on a research expedition near the Rewa River in Guyana.

Using their silk threads as a catapult, members of a family of orb-weaving arachnids rocket themselves and their webs through the air to capture prey.

The tropical net-casting spider Deinopis spinosa joins several other arachnid species that can hear sounds from afar without the help of a web, or even ears—an ability that aids its unique hunting tactics.

After the initial announcements of two retractions, scientists have mobilized to interrogate the data in nearly 150 of Jonathan Pruitt’s papers.

Buoyancy techniques used by spiders and ants inspire the development of floating aluminum discs.

A type of jumping spider called Afraflacilla had never been documented in India—until now.

Funnel-web spiders change the timing of their distinct courtship behavior depending on what microbes they’re carrying.

Spotted coin spider colors are a Swiss army knife of deception, bringing food closer, and keeping assailants at bay.

Over the course of their lives, the jumping spider Synemosyna formica wears two different ant disguises to fool preying birds.

A virtual exhibition of C.R. Percival’s slides reveals the natural world up close.

Without access to their mothers’ milk, Toxeus magnus offspring die within the first 10 days of life.