The caterpillars that spin commercial silk can make much tougher or more elastic threads, depending on how fast they’re forced to spin. If this research finding is translated into a marketable process ...

Dan Widmaier is not really a fashion guy — "by any stretch of the imagination," he clarifies — but that hasn't stopped the chemist from taking on the apparel industry. His company, Bolt Threads, has ...

Imagine a sweater that powers electronics to monitor your health or charge your mobile phone while running. This development faces challenges because of the lack of materials that both conduct ...

For years, materials scientists have been trying to figure out a way to give consumers broad access to the benefits of spider silk. As a naturally occurring supermaterial, spider silk is five times ...

How can a tiny spider body contain material for several decimeters of gossamer silk, and what governs the conversion to thread? Researchers in Sweden can now explain this process. How can a tiny ...

In 1789 President George Washington wrote in his journal after visiting Connecticut that the silk thread manufactured here was very fine. By1836 at least three out of every four households in ...

A hat made from Rambouillet wool is a perfectly nice hat. The fiber, shorn from a Rambouillet sheep, is fine and soft. Not at all scratchy. “They call it the American merino,” says Dan Widmaier, the ...

is a freelance science journalist, podcast host, comics artist, and TV host. There’s a spider in Britain that’s a tad unusual. Instead of spinning “thick” silk threads (in this case, thick means ...