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In a first, genetically modified silkworms produced pure spider silk (www.sciencenews.org)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] fusio 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

looking forward to spidersilk garments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

...and space elevator cables - but alas, for that an even stronger material is needed. :)

The toughest spider silk, made by Darwin's bark spider, allows the critters to weave webs over a river. If Kevlar as a known quantity has a tensile strength of 3.6 GPa, then this material, described as 10 times tougher, would be 36 GPa. Carbon nanotubes are 63 GPa, and they are considered insufficient. :(