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New company learns from spider`s ability to spin
A new spin-out from Oxford University, Spinox, is aiming to devise novel ways to copy spiders` ability to spin silks. The new silks may be used for sutures or woven material for surgical implants, protective clothing and in sports equipment. Spinox has been set up to fully develop a spinning process to create high performance fibres from natural... view more... (2002-03-07)

Scientists achieve self-assembly of genetically engineered spider silk fibre in insect cells
For the first time anywhere, scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and from Germany have succeeded in producing self-assembled spider web fibres under laboratory conditions, outside of the bodies of spiders. This fibre is significantly stronger than the silk fibre made by silkworms.   view more (2004-11-23)

Yale study offers new paradigm on ecosystem ecology
Predators have considerably more influence than plants over how an ecosystem functions, according to a Yale study published today in Science.   view more (2008-02-15)

Scary ancient spiders revealed in 3-D models, thanks to new imaging technique
Early relatives of spiders that lived around 300 million years ago are revealed in new three-dimensional models, in research published today in the journal Biology Letters.    view more (2009-08-05)

MIT engineers probe spiders' polymer art
A team of MIT engineers has identified two key physical processes that lend spider silk its unrivaled strength and durability, bringing closer to reality the long-sought goal of spinning artificial spider silk.   view more (2006-10-31)

Ecological significance of tool-use in the woodpecker finch Cactospiza pallida
The Woodpecker finch, one of 14 Darwin`s finches of the Galapagos Islands, uses twigs or cactus spines to pry insects and spiders out of tree-holes. The advantage of using tools may seem evident, but empirical evidence is scarce. In a paper soon to appear in Ecology Letters, Tebbich and colleagues present the first study on the ecological... view more... (2002-09-09)

Scientists discover largest orb-weaving spider
Researchers from the United States and Slovenia have discovered a new, giant Nephila species (golden orb weaver spider) from Africa and Madagascar and have published their findings in the Oct. 21 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.   view more (2009-10-21)

Researchers to study rebirth of an island after volcanic eruption
When Alaska's Kasatochi Volcano erupted on Aug. 7, 2008, it virtually sterilized Kasatochi Island, covering the small Aleutian island with a layer of ash and other volcanic material several meters thick.   view more (2009-08-07)

New 150 Million-Year-Old Crab Species Discovered
Researchers from Kent State University and the University of Bucharest, Romania, have discovered a new primitive crab species Cycloprosopon dobrogea in eastern Romania. Previously unexamined, these ancient crabs from the Prosopidae family existed more than 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period.   view more (2007-10-18)

Media invitation - Environmental change in Antarctic lakes and seas: the chances for survival or extinction? BA Festival of Science, Univ of Leicester
The effects of the warming of the Earth`s climate on Antarctic lakes and seas is a matter of life or death for many plants and animals at the frozen continent. Professor Lloyd Peck, biologist with British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discusses the prospects for survival or extinction of Antarctic marine and lake life today (9 Sept) at a special seminar... view more... (2002-09-05)

A Glimpse of the Very Early Universal Web
The VLT Maps Extremely Distant Galaxies New, trailblazing observations with the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal lend strong support to current computer models of the early universe: It is "spongy", with galaxies forming along filaments, like droplets along the strands of a spiders web. A group of astronomers at ESO and in Denmark... view more... (2001-05-18)

A bug's life... in a bubble
Hundreds of insect species live mainly underwater, but how do they breathe? University of Alberta researcher Morris Flynn did a study to find out how these species are able to remain underwater without drowning.   view more (2008-08-11)

Spider web glue spins society toward new biobased adhesives
With would-be goblins and ghosts set to drape those huge fake spider webs over doorways and trees for Halloween, scientists in Wyoming are reporting on a long-standing mystery about real spider webs: It is the secret of spider web glue.   view more (2009-10-22)

Why are there so many more species of insects? Because insects have been here longer
J. B. S. Haldane once famously quipped that "God is inordinately fond of beetles." Results of a study by Mark A. McPeek of Dartmouth College and Jonathan M. Brown of Grinnell College suggest that this fondness was expressed not by making so many, but rather by allowing them to persist for so long.   view more (2007-04-04)

Attack of the invasive garden ants
An ant that is native to Eurasia is threatening to become the latest in a procession of species to invade Europe, as a result of inadvertent human introduction. Research published in the online open access journal BMC Biology demonstrates that the invasive garden ant, Lasius neglectus, which is a threat to native species, may already be more... view more... (2008-02-26)

The Evolution of Aversion: Why even children are fearful of snakes
Some of the oldest tales and wisest mythology allude to the snake as a mischievous seducer, dangerous foe or powerful iconoclast; however, the legend surrounding this proverbial predator may not be based solely on fantasy. As scientists from the University of Virginia recently discovered, the common fear of snakes is most likely intrinsic.   view more (2008-02-28)

U of T scientists identify gene that has enabled water striders to glide across water
Water striders, the familiar semi-aquatic bugs gliding across the lake at the cottage, have a novel body form that allows them to walk on water.   view more (2009-08-14)

Sussex psychologists study what causes children's fears and phobias
Dr Andy Field, lecturer in psychology and research fellow Robin Banerjee at the University of Sussex have just won a three-year grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to investigate how fears and phobias are formed. "A phobia is a clinically diagnosed level of fear about a particular thing or situation," says Dr... view more... (2002-01-21)

Gene exchange common among sex-manipulating bacteria
Certain bacteria have learned to manipulate the proportion of females and males in insect populations. Now Uppsala University researchers have mapped the entire genome of a bacterium that infects a close relative of the fruit fly.   view more (2009-03-26)

Flies in a spider's web: Galaxy caught in the making
In nature spiders earn our respect by constructing fascinating, well-organised webs in all shapes and sizes. But the beauty masks a cruel, fatal trap. Analogously, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has found a large galaxy 10.6 billion light-years away from Earth (at a redshift of 2.2) that is stuffing itself with smaller galaxies caught like... view more... (2006-10-12)
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