WEBVTT - How Do Spider Webs Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. Greek mythology tells of

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<v Speaker 1>a mortal seamstress named Arachne. Her extraordinary talent was matched

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<v Speaker 1>only by her ego, and in a moment of pure hubris,

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<v Speaker 1>she challenged the goddess Athena to a high stakes weaving contest,

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<v Speaker 1>and suffice it to say that this didn't go well

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<v Speaker 1>for Arachne. After the showdown, she was transformed into a spider.

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<v Speaker 1>At least she got to keep her hobby. Many spiders

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<v Speaker 1>are famously good weavers, using materials that can be stronger

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<v Speaker 1>than steel. The eight legged critters spin all kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>different webs, some big, some small. If you look at

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<v Speaker 1>the tip of the abdomen on any given spider, you'll

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<v Speaker 1>find one to four pair of tiny stubb like appendages.

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<v Speaker 1>Those are the spin a rets, the organs that dispense silk.

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<v Speaker 1>Each one is connected to special gland is located inside

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<v Speaker 1>the abdomen. Said glands create protein rich liquids that are

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<v Speaker 1>squeezed out of spigots, which are microscopic openings in the spinnerets.

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<v Speaker 1>Upon exiting the body, the liquids solidify and become silk.

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<v Speaker 1>Mind you, not all spider silks are created equal. The

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<v Speaker 1>chemical composition of silk dreads is highly variable, and sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>it can be altered before the pre silk liquids get

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<v Speaker 1>a chance to harden. A plus, by tensing or relaxing,

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<v Speaker 1>spigots can change the thickness of the silken fibers that

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<v Speaker 1>they release. Alone, spider may have dozens, hundreds, or thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of spigots all working together in concert, producing silks with

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<v Speaker 1>lots of different consistencies. One of the better known families

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<v Speaker 1>of spiders are the orb weavers, encountered on every continent

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<v Speaker 1>but Antarctica. Their ranks include around three thousand, five hundred

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<v Speaker 1>species worldwide. Individual or weavers can generate eight to nine

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<v Speaker 1>different types of silk to protect their eggs. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>the arachnids bundle them up in woven sacks with a

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<v Speaker 1>layer of nice, soft silk at the center, but spider

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<v Speaker 1>silk also comes in firmer, tougher varieties. Or weavers create

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<v Speaker 1>dartboard style, vertically oriented webs that most people think of

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<v Speaker 1>when they hear the term spider web. Think about Charlotte's

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<v Speaker 1>web before she added missives like some pig. We're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about the spiral little beauties you've probably seen in countless

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<v Speaker 1>backyard gardens. Construction begins after an or weaver makes its

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<v Speaker 1>bridge thread. This is the first line in a new web,

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<v Speaker 1>usually a lightweight strand that the spider uses to forward

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<v Speaker 1>the gap between two firm objects of like tree limbs, rocks,

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<v Speaker 1>or window sills. Our exoskeletal pal waits at one end

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<v Speaker 1>of the divide and lets this thread drift in the

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<v Speaker 1>wind until it makes contact with the other side. When

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<v Speaker 1>that's done, the bridge thread is secured at both ends

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<v Speaker 1>and reinforced with additional lines of silk. The bridge thread

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<v Speaker 1>is the first third of a woven triangle. The so

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<v Speaker 1>called frame threads are built in all three corners of

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<v Speaker 1>this structure. Together with the major lines on the triangle sides,

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<v Speaker 1>they create attachment platforms for a set of very tough

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<v Speaker 1>threads known as radii, extending outward from a point at

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<v Speaker 1>the center of the web that is the hub. The

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<v Speaker 1>radii look like the spokes on a bicycle wheel. Next,

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<v Speaker 1>a silken spiral is woven around the hub, covering much

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<v Speaker 1>of the radii. Some orb weavers will repeat this process

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<v Speaker 1>after building an initial spiral out of non sticky silk,

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<v Speaker 1>they replace it with a sticky threaded substitute. A completed

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<v Speaker 1>web is a multifaceted tool. When another creature gets ensnared

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<v Speaker 1>in one, vibrations and the silken threads convey information about

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<v Speaker 1>its size and whereabouts. Spiders use this information while approaching

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<v Speaker 1>their victims. Also, researchers have discovered some orb weaver webs

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<v Speaker 1>attract flying insects by a static electricity. One species, the

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<v Speaker 1>garden center spider, creates these by weaving breads that get

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<v Speaker 1>electrically charged with the arachnid rubs its legs on them. Afterwards,

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<v Speaker 1>some portions of the web become more adhesive. But why

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<v Speaker 1>should or weavers have all the fun? Spiderwebs come in

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<v Speaker 1>more than a hundred and thirty known shapes, many of

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<v Speaker 1>which look pretty far removed from the iconic or weaver design.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, numerous spiders weave horizontally oriented sheet webs, and

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes the setup includes an overhanging layer of disheveled breads

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<v Speaker 1>that intercept unwary flying insects. Here the ideas for the

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<v Speaker 1>victim to collide with one of the upper threads and

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<v Speaker 1>then fall down onto the sticky sheet below. However, sheet

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<v Speaker 1>webs might play a more active role in prey capture.

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<v Speaker 1>Study indicated that moths are attracted to the big horizontal

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<v Speaker 1>webs of the lace sheet weave a subtropical Asian spider

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<v Speaker 1>because it uses highly reflective silk. Since the molds can't

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<v Speaker 1>see very well, entomologists think that the winged critters might

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<v Speaker 1>be mistaking these clusters of luminous threads for well lit

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<v Speaker 1>forest clearings. Another common type of spiderweb is the much

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<v Speaker 1>maligned cobweb sewn by black widows and some related species.

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<v Speaker 1>Cobwebs don't come in well organized geometric patterns. On the contrary,

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<v Speaker 1>they're messy looking tangles of silk that tend to be

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<v Speaker 1>found underneath protective covers like roofs, rocks, or branches. And

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<v Speaker 1>then we've got spiders that don't even bother with webs.

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<v Speaker 1>Wolf spiders and crab spiders have no need for them

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<v Speaker 1>because these free ranging arachnids can usually out muscle their

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<v Speaker 1>prey without using any silken traps. Likewise, tarantulas forego the

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<v Speaker 1>web weaving process, although they have been known to line

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<v Speaker 1>their burrows with silk in order to keep unwanted dirt

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<v Speaker 1>from umulating and other species use silk in creative projects.

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<v Speaker 1>Trapdoor spiders mix it with dirt and vegetation to create

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<v Speaker 1>movable lids for their underground homes, and the aquatic diving

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<v Speaker 1>bell spider builds portable webs underwater and uses them to

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<v Speaker 1>trap bubbles of oxygen. Furthermore so, I just recently learned

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<v Speaker 1>that the peculiar webs actively pull oxygen out of the

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<v Speaker 1>surrounding water, much like the guilds on a fish. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article spiders can spin webs

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<v Speaker 1>of silk stronger than steel on how stuffworks dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler clang Or More podcasts my heart Radio,

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