Spider webs are some of the most amazing creations in nature.
They’re works of art, but also extremely practical.
In fact, there’s new research that finds they’re even more practical than we’ve realized.
A group of researchers representing several European universities studied Argiope bruennichi, a spider that lives in forests in Sardinia.
In particular, they were studying something called stabilimenta, which are also sometimes called web decorations.
They do look like the spiders wanted to make their webs look more fancy, but stabilimenta are also very functional.
The trick is figuring out what the function is.
Some researchers say stabilimenta are for defense; when a predator like a bird or a wasp comes nearby, the spider can vibrate their webs, and maybe these extra decorations are a visual distraction to the predator that gives the spider more time to hide.
Or the stabilimenta might reflect ultraviolet light, which could trick insects near the web.
Or they might help collect water for thirsty spiders.
All reasonable and useful jobs.
This research team came to a different conclusion.
They studied the way the stabilimenta affected vibrations throughout the web.
And they found that for the spider they studied, the zigzags they build into their webs can cause vibrations in one area to be felt in other sections.
In other words, these stabilimenta appear to work as motion alarms: a spider whose all the way across the web can find out when its web may have caught some food, even if that potential meal is on the other side of the web.
Not everyone in the spider community is convinced; they say that this discovery was made in part through computer simulations, which may or may not accurately reflect real-life spider webs.
So what we need is some kind of early alarm system that will let us know when the scientists have proof about whether spiders use early alarm systems.
Preferably an alarm that’s zigzag shaped.
You can make art with paint, chalk, pencils, markers, all sorts of things.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, there’s a new art installation at the BOK Center made from more than 45,000 guitar picks.
The work celebrates what it calls Tulsa’s greatest performers: singer/songwriter Leon Russell, and the band Hanson.
Though wouldn’t you have to put a Hanson mural in the… middle of nowhere?
Spiders weave secret alarm system through web zigzags for prey detection, study finds (Interesting Engineering)
BOK reveals new art installation made with over 45,000 guitar picks (FOX 23)
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