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Megan Garber<\/strong> Spider webs are architectural marvels. Their silks are similar in tensile strength to alloy steel. Their adhesive properties adjust to movements of prey ensnared in them. Yet they are, for many of the spiders that weave them, edible.<\/p>\n And spider webs, it turns out, may be one more thing, too: actually attractive to the very prey they\u2019re meant to lure. New research<\/a> suggests that the webs may be effective at their primary jobs \u2013 catching prey for the creatures that wove them \u2013 not only because of their stickiness, and not only because of their strength, and not only because of their unique shape \u2026 but also because of their responsiveness to electricity itself.<\/p>\n Yes. According to the research, the webs and positively charged objects \u2013 like, say, insects flying by \u2013 seem to be attracted to each other. Electrically attracted to each other. Unavoidably attracted to each other. Insects\u2019 wings, after all, don\u2019t simply keep their owners in the air as they\u2019re flapping; they also, in the process, generate electrical charge. Honeybees can generate enough charge \u2013 up to 200 volts<\/a> \u2013 to detach pollen from flowers. And spider webs may take advantage of that in a way that is both evolutionarily ingenious and totally insidious at the same time, capturing prey by essentially sucking their victims in. Talk about animal magnetism.<\/p>\n Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n <!– <\/p>\n –><\/p>\n This article was posted: Saturday, July 6, 2013 at 10:42 am<\/p>\n Tags: science<\/a><\/p>\n
The Atlantic<\/a>
July 6, 2013<\/p>\n
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