Rufus net-casting spiders can tune the stiffness and elasticity of their webs thanks to loops of silk, scanning electron ...

Dragline silk or major ampullate (MA) silk, the part of a spider's web that forms the main frame and spokes, is one of the toughest materials known to science. That is, it can absorb massive amounts ...

After a spider finishes weaving its web, it sometimes adds one last touch. A bright zigzag down the middle, like a silken “X.” These flourishes, known as stabilimenta, have puzzled scientists for a ...

Whether it's a sudden dash across the garage or silhouette in a backyard web, spiders evoke fear in many people. But ...

Scientists have officially brought genetic engineering to the spider's web. For the first time, researchers have created a gene-edited spider that spins red fluorescent silk. Led by a team at the ...

An orb-weaver spider’s web works by forming a barely visible, sticky net stretched across likely flight paths, such that flying insects accidentally crash into it, allowing the spider to eat them. The ...

Unless you’re an arthropod admirer, like me, it’s not uncommon to panic if you see a web in the corner of your porch or kitchen ceiling. The good news is that most spiders in US homes and yards are ...

Every year Halloween enthusiasts adorn their homes with synthetic cobwebs. But humans aren’t the only creatures who decorate their abodes. Spiders bedeck their webs with “stabilimenta”—various woven ...

This week in science: what your brain's doing when you zone out; the world's largest spider web; game over for simulation theory; and much more! A comprehensive meta-analysis has shown that fasting ...