Granted i'm not an expert in this particular field, but surley its possible to farm spiders and create a fibre strong enough and elastic enough to use in all manor of useful causes. From bungee ropes to suspension bridges, maybe even whole earthquake proof structures utiliising our 8 legged friends.
-- stunning, Jul 04 2003

Future Spin http://www.boston.c...3/0608/currents.htm
[Shz, Oct 04 2004]

BioSteelGoats http://www.abc.net....stories/s461157.htm
....named Peter & Webster apparently.. [gnomethang, Oct 04 2004, last modified Feb 07 2008]

Not possible to farm spiders (someone on TV just said put a million silk worms in a room, you'll still have a million silk worms; put a million spiders in a room, you'll end up with one). But synthetic spider silk is Widely Baked, and people have been playing with putting spider genes in goats, which are more amenable to herding.
-- DrCurry, Jul 04 2003


[DrCurry], could you provide us with a link please? The GE doesn't surprise me but the curiosity of whether scientists intend to have spider silk grown as the wool or to be spun while milking a teet has overwhelmed my imagination...
-- Tiger Lily, Jul 04 2003


I thought riflescope crosshairs were made from spider silk. Maybe that's just a fable.
-- bristolz, Jul 04 2003


I believe the story goes...

-Spider silk harvesting was attempted but the spiders killed each other when in close proximity.
-Silkworm silk could be harvested, but the process was extremely slow.
-Some genius brings the Gypsy Moth Caterpillar to the US and attempts to cross-breed them with the Silkworm to accelerate production.
-He fails. And the Caterpillars escape to become a treacherous invasive species.
-Now we have “silky milk” produced by GM goats (with spider genes).

(will search for links)
-- Shz, Jul 04 2003


Found part of the story. <link> Warning: Don’t google on ‘silky milk’ (even though I’ve heard it called that). Still searching for the history.
-- Shz, Jul 05 2003


On second thought, I’m done searching. - You can’t farm spiders.
-- Shz, Jul 05 2003


Here's a story of a lowly spider,
Who was bringing up three very lowly -
Oops, sorry, wrong thread
-- thumbwax, Jul 05 2003


...Who was bringing up three lovely arach' nids,
All of them could spin their silk like no other,
The youngest one could perl...
-- Tiger Lily, Jul 05 2003


Why do all the spiders have to be in the same room? We give each spider their own pad, let them do their business, then every other day whip them out, harvest the web and stick 'em back in.
-- stunning, Jul 05 2003


Here's the story
Of a goat named Billy
Who was busy raising three little gruffs, his own
There were sixteen cloven hooves all together
Yet they felt all alone

Till the one day when the spiders gave their jeans up
Then our Billies started throwing up their lunch
Now we've got goatees giving milkshakes
Smooth and silky but you get a nutty punch

It's the GM bunch, The GM bunch...
-- Tiger Lily, Jul 05 2003


I do wish people wouldn't put nice little rhymes on ideas which should be [marked-for-deletion] as baked.
-- neilp, Dec 20 2004


["baked" is not grounds for deletion. Please don't mark things unless you've read and understood the help file. Thanks!]
-- jutta, Feb 07 2008


Why oh why oh why oh why.....do people keep insisting that spider silk has some miraculous property? It's merely an inferior and less convenient alternative to many modern synthetic fibres.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 07 2008



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