Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate

Don't miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub
Check it out: BrainCraft visits another MacArthur Genius!    • The Surprising Similarities Between T...  
↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓

Living things have engineered some pretty awesome materials, but I'm not sure anything measures up to spider silk. It's as strong, as stretchy, and as resilient than even humans' most advanced creations like Kevlar and steel. So how do these awesome arachnids weave such an incredible substance using nothing but their rear ends? And… what IS this stuff? I went to meet Dr. Cheryl Hayashi, one of the world's experts in spider silk, to find out.

Special thanks to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation: https://www.macfound.org/

READ MORE:
Brunetta, Leslie, and Catherine L. Craig. Spider silk: evolution and 400 million years of spinning, waiting, snagging, and mating. Yale University Press, 2010.

Römer, Lin, and Thomas Scheibel. "The elaborate structure of spider silk." Prion (2008).

-----------
FOLLOW US:

Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/i...
Facebook:   / itsokaytobesmart  
Twitter: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson
Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com
Instagram: @DrJoeHanson
Snapchat: YoDrJoe
-----------

It's Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Director: Joe Nicolosi
Writer: Sarah Keartes
Producer/editor/animator: David Schulte
Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox

Produced by PBS Digital Studios
Music via APM
Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com