Why Spider Silk is Stronger Than Steel

Credits:
Narrator/Writer: Stephanie Sammann
Writer: Ashleen Knutsen
Thumbnail: Max Moser

Imagery courtesy of Getty Images

References:

[gemini]

😂😂 love the random spiderman at 9:35 but also love the in depth detail as I've always wondered what exactly it meant "spider silk is stronger than steel"

[RealEngineering]

One of my favourite RS videos to date. Material science crossed with biology? Kinda wish I went into spider silk research

[halffruit]

9:32 Spider-Man just casually walking around the lab.

[CruzMonrreal]

9:36 The casual Spiderman completely caught me off guard 😅

Nice video!

[gsmith]

I love the Spider-Man walkthrough absolutely brilliant

[MachiriReviews]

Spiders are such beautiful and magnificent creatures. I wish more people could appreciate them and all their wonder.

[skylaninaction]

I learned alot from this. I had no idea there was multiple types of spider silk for different parts of their web. Another great video

[iainmacneill]

Spider man walking through the background at 9:34 was a nice touch

[nightinthewhite]

in a rural area, i saw a stick that was hanging from a thread, it wasnt there the day before and it just looked weird, like one of those suckers that are on the roof in half life, i grabbed the stick and threw it away and after that i looked up to see what it was connected to, turns out it was a counter weight for a web that was between 2 trees, without it, the web started moving due to the wind and was ultimately destroyed, dunno what happened to the spider and i kinda felt bad for destroying something so ingenious

[SizzleCorndog]

I work in the analytical department at Lubrizol and we just had an interview candidate come in and present their research on the material properties of spider silk. A lot of what they said was in this video. I dont remember where they were studying/ when they put out their research, but hearing that ppl are close to being able to mass produce it has me so hopeful for the future when we can finally get rid of plastics fibers because they are so insanely difficult to break down even from a chemical perspective. Genuinely never more excited for science after watching this video.

[shadowwriter]

I remember watching a video where Myth Busters Adam Savage did a test with some kids and proved the concept. They did two test with gallons of water dripping into buckets held up by either a cord of steel and a cord of spider silk. They used enough spider silk (over 300 strains I don’t recall) but they were both the same amount of mass/weight. Both did the test and the silk held more water before it snapped then the steel cord.

[itchykami]

I wonder what guitar strings from spider silk would sound like. I suspect finger oils are far more destructive to it though, so wouldn't expect them to last nearly as long.

[DigitalJedi]

The fact that it is made from a liquid makes me hope we can print or even 3d print with it. I have no idea how well it would adhere to the other layers in a 3d print, but even just making 2d patters of the material to reinforce other thin materials would be awesome.

[kylevanzandbergen]

Spiderman just casually walking in the background of the lab shot is fucking amazing 😂

[mercury]

Spiders: look what they need to mimic a fraction of our power!

[huldu]

What I find fascinating about many spiders is that they can create a very beautiful and perfect looking web while being nearly blind or completely blind.

[kirbymarchbarcena]

Makes me wonder how Peter Parker was able to concoct his complex chemical compounded spider fluid.

[aubreydickson]

My university actually had some spider silk producing goats! A few years ago, they brought them on campus and I was able to see them. It was really fun.

[longboardfella]

Very good content - thanks! But there's more to it than the protein chemistry. The golden orb thread has layers of proteins that mechanically slip past each other in a controlled manner to relieve strain. That would be a real challenge to reproduce even if the proteins were made. We remain in awe at the incredible properties of the real thread.

[echo]

Ancient Greek myth about spiders:
There was once a woman named Arachnid who was incredibly talented at weaving and looming. Her talent was so great that people compared it to that of Athena, goddess of knowledge and arts. But Arachnid was too proud of herself, claiming her work was better than Athena's. This angered the goddess, who transformed herself into an old lady and went to Arachnid to see if she'd back down from that statement. When Arachnid did not back down, Athena turned her into a spider. But Athena did not take away Arachnid's talent, and so this is why spiders are so good at weaving beautiful complex webs.