As detailed in a study published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, scientists have developed a special liquid that, when pushed out of a needle, instantly solidifies into a thread that clings to objects. The resulting “web” is strong — and sticky — enough to lift things.
And while spiders remain masters at weaving webs, this device can do something most arachnids can't - shoot webs, says study author Marco Lo Presti.
“We show how to shoot a fiber from a device, attach to an italy phone number library object, and lift it from a distance,” says Lo Presti, a scientist specializing in biomedical engineering at Tufts University. “Rather than calling this work biotechnology, you could safely say it’s superhero-inspired material.”
With my brains scattered
The new fiber is made primarily of fibroin, a protein building block obtained by boiling silk from the cocoons of the silkworm. Fibroin can form a tough glue on its own, but it took a stroke of luck for scientists to figure out how to make it harden in air.
“I was working on a project to make extremely strong adhesives based on fibroin. When I was cleaning glassware with acetone, I noticed that a spiderweb-like material had formed on the bottom,” recalls Lo Presti.spidergadgets
The scientist realized that the combination of acetone and dopamine — yes, this is the same “pleasure hormone” produced in the brain — accelerates hardening, and instead of several hours, it happens almost instantly.
Dopamine is sticky at first, but it probably makes the process go even faster because the hormone draws water out of the silk fibroin while the acetone evaporates.
Tied together by one thread
This solved the problem of the web being shot. To strengthen the thread, the scientists
