this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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Chinese Scientists have introduced an innovative, green alternative to nylon and Kevlar

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[–] LittleLordFauntleroy@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This seems like a weird alternate Spiderman origin story...

[–] TrenchcoatFullofBats@belfry.rip 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Spiderman: Shoots webs

Spidersilkman: Shoots bulletproof kimonos

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 9 points 1 year ago

silkworm-man doesn't have the same ring to it.

[–] Bobo@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Lol that's an interesting idea!

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Spider silk breakthroughs have been a tech news staple since the nineties, as far as I can remember.

Never have seen a product that makes use of the special properties.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Production has been a real bottleneck. Also, I'm skeptical they got the actual strength right in this headline. It's strong, but it's still a biological material.

Edit: Yeah, it's half as strong per weight as a high-strength synthetic polymer, and weaker than normal steel on a volumetric basis. It stretches really far before it snaps though, which has implications for things like energy absorption.

[–] nyhetsjunkie@beehaw.org 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is it spider silk though? Can't have gene edited spider silk without gene edited spiders. This is gene edited silkworm silk. Or am I missing something about silk?

[–] SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago

Yes, it’s spider silk. These silkworms are transgenic. Their silk-producing genes have been replaced by spider silk-producing genes.

[–] catharso@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

guess we'll need six times more powerful bullets then ...

[–] tormeh@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Kevlar only stops 9mm and similar, anyway.

[–] nis@feddit.dk 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This should stop 54mm bullets then :)

[–] lilmann@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Anti-tank kevlar

[–] averyminya@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I'm excited for companies to never utilize this indestructible fabric in things like clothes and socks, backpacks, straps, and anything else that tends to break or fray.

[–] suburBeebiTcH@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Check out the thought emporium on YouTube, that dude been working on yeast that make spider silk. Also tons of other cool projects

[–] Bobo@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Hey that sounds really cool. I'll check that out.