Science Friday Harnessing the superpowers of silk
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Mar 31, 2026 Fiorenzo Omenetto, a biomedical engineer who turns silk into sensors and vaccine tools, and Cheryl Hayashi, a spider-silk biologist who studies how spiders spin and use multiple silk types. They explore silk’s many functions, from ballooning and underwater tricks to tough, programmable biomaterials. The conversation ranges from spider weaving choreography to engineering silk for diagnostics and preservation.
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Spider Silk Is A Toolkit Not A Single Fiber
- Spiders make many distinct silks with different protein recipes for different web parts.
- Frames and radial spokes use stronger silk while the spiral capture thread uses much stretchier silk, so spiders mix-and-match silks during construction.
Some Silks Rival Steel At Microscale
- Some spider silks have remarkable strength and toughness at microscopic scales.
- Because fibers are extremely fine, certain silks can stop flying insects and rival materials like steel or Kevlar in tensile performance for their size.
Spiders Fly By Ballooning On Silk
- Spiders use silk for movement like draglines and ballooning rather than shooting web from wrists.
- Tiny spiderlings release silk to act as parachutes and ride wind currents, allowing spiders to travel long distances and reach high altitudes.