In the United States, researchers have developed a spider web launcher to move objects, like the Marvel hero Spiderman.
From fiction to reality. In the United States, university researchers have developed technology to mimic the powers of the Marvel superhero Spiderman. The invention makes it possible to project adhesive silk fibers allowing objects to be lifted, like the hero in the films of the franchise.
“We took inspiration from superheroes,” said Marco Lo Presti, a biomedical engineering researcher at Tufts University near Boston. The researchers told the journal Advanced Functional Materials that they had developed a liquid which, as soon as it is ejected from a needle, solidifies to become sticky and thus move objects.
Work on silk
This technology was obtained after work on the material of silk. Those involved explained that it was obtained after boiling the silk produced by moth cocoons, becoming silk proteins.
“I was working on a project making extremely strong adhesives using silk fibroin, and while I was cleaning my glassware with acetone, I noticed that a web-like material was forming on the bottom of the glass,” explained Marco Lo Presti. The scientist then discovered that the combination of acetone and dopamine accelerated the solidification of the material.
Finally, chitosan, a substance resulting from the degradation of crustacean shells, was added to further increase the strength of the fiber. A demonstrative video published on phys.org demonstrated that the substance could move almost 80 times one’s weight over 12 centimeters.
