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Spider Silk   One of the strongest fibres in the world is spider silk. Weight for weight, it beats steel and has been given a number of practical uses - including the cross hairs in microscopes and telescopes. Because of its remarkable properties, scientists have been trying to create it on an industrial scale. One idea was to implant spider genes in goats so that silk protein could be extracted from the goats’ milk. This proved possible, but not - as yet - commercial. (However, at the end of the 18th century a French manufacturer set up a spider farm that produced enough silk to make garments such as gloves). A close rival to spider silk is the version produced by silkworms. When a silk cocoon is unwound, the thread can be up to 1 mile in length and is spun into thread to make silk cloth. MUTR supplies silk cocoons that can be unwound simply by placing them in hot wound (to soften the bonding agent) and then pulling out the silken thread. The next strongest materials to silk are carbon fibre and Kevlar - a polymer made by Dupont using a secret process.

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Friday 18 May, 2012

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