Luke Cage exposed!

14-billion-years-later:

Want Bullet Proof Skin?

Of course you do. Well now bioengineers have developed a skin made in part with spider silk that is capable of stopping a speeding bullet. Spider silk may not seem that strong, but in a strength to weight comparison a weave of it out distances Kevlar 4 fold. I once heard that an inch thick rope of the stuff could stop a jet plane at full throttle. For videos of the tests you can click here. The first test shows a bullet moving only at half speed, while the second test shows it moving at full speed under which conditions the skin is compromised. To be fair though, it’s a step in the right direction and I look forward to being the super villain hero I’ve always wanted to be.

Image

(via scinerds)

laboratoryequipment:

Spider Brain Too Large for Head

The brains of tiny spiders are so large that they fill their body cavities and overflow into their legs, STRI researchers report. As part of ongoing research to understand how miniaturization affects brain size and behavior, researchers measured the central nervous systems of nine species of spiders, from rainforest giants to spiders smaller than the head of a pin. As the spiders get smaller, their brains get proportionally bigger, filling up more and more of their body cavities.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Spider-Brain-Too-Large-for-Head-121311.aspx

…kinda wants to make you treat me with a little more respect, doesn’t it?

sciencecenter:

Assassin bug sneaks up on spiders under the cover of wind, then impales them

“Among the many creepy denizens of Australia, the assassin bug is right at home. With its erratic, long-legged walk, it stalks along spiders’ webs, caressing its prey with its antennae and then stabbing them with its beak. Now, scientists who spy on these spider-eaters report that the bugs have yet another charming behavior in their toolkit: using the breeze as cover when they go in for the kill.”

…which is awesome.