Recently Scientists have figured that Malagasy spiders spin world’s toughest 
biological material (link to the full article given below). There was another article on the secret of oysters sticking together (link is below). Silk, wool from sheep camel etc, are routinely used,  we know. Why am I writing about spider webs and oyster shells? You might be surprised.

I am sure you can think of a million places where we use fibers. Right from what you are wearing till high precision optical fibers. Producing tough fiber that is thin, elastic and cost effective is still a challenge for the scientific community.

Scientists’ recent invention of Kevlar, the synthetic fiber used in  bullet proof vests, is not even as tough as ordinary spiders’ fiber! Some of the  spider webs can span whole rivers and streams, some of them longer than 25 meters! Most intriguing characteristic of spider silk is that they are exceptionally elastic too. If they were brittle, they wouldn’t serve their purpose of trapping insects anyway. That is what makes them interesting. 

Scientists will find millions of uses for a thin, tough and elastic fiber. Say in fishing nets (to avoid tearing off during a trawl) or in industries where they lift things up for loading containers, in bullet proof vests, or in chair cushions, in packaging materials, and the list goes on. All you would need is a huge spider farm with millions of spiders weaving webs. Right next to the spider farm would have to be an insect farm feeding the spiders!

What do you see when you open up your computer-CPU? High precision components stuck together on a platform right? Ever wondered how they stick’em in there? 

Well, various ways, but screws and some adhesives right? The second article I mentioned above might just change the way we stick things together!

With scientists figuring out about oysters sticking together secret, we might have a game changer. Oysters produce a different material than their shells just for the purpose of sticking together. This cement like material is 90% chalk and 10% proteins. When we completely figure out what the composition of this 10% is, it will become a lot cheaper to glue computer parts, wall hangings, banners and posters together.

Another use of this glue the shipping industry will welcome is that oysters and other mollusks cause millions in damage by sticking to the hull of the ships. They will save a fortune if we know how to eliminate this nuisance other than manually scraping it and thereby damaging the hull!

Full article  on Malagasy spiders here

Full article on Oysters sticking secret here