Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Silk is a fabulous fabric, but it’s also a material that can do ...

Silkworm thread has been turned into superstrong material that surpasses the strength of natural spider silks, according to research. Scientists have made it 70 percent stronger than a spider's silk ...

Silk is smooth, strong, and biocompatible, making it a prized material for many applications. Scientists have tried all kinds of tricks to improve silk or imbue it with new properties: They have fed ...

Spiders hold the market for the strongest silks but are too aggressive and territorial to be farmed. The next best alternative involves incorporating spider DNA into silkworms, an expensive and ...

Spider silk—six times tougher than Kevlar and stronger than steel—has now been produced by an unexpected source. Spider silk is a biological protein fiber spun by spiders. Many of these fibers have ...

Along with its use in clothing, silk also shows promise for use in products ranging from surgical sutures to seed coverings. Scientists have recently devised a method of making the material stronger, ...

The other day I dove headfirst into a spiderweb while half-asleep inside my camper van. Screams aside, the logical part of me marveled at how fast a single creepy-crawly had woven such an ...

Did you know that silk fabric is made from ... well, worm spit? The way that silkworms wind their cocoons from fibers in their slimy saliva is now helping scientists more easily make new biomedical ...