Perhaps no other natural structure better exemplifies a design that optimizes material function than the spider web. However, despite extensive theoretical and experimental investigations of the molecular design and mechanical properties of spider silk, the integrity and performance of the spider web has not yet been fully explained. Recently, M.J. Buehler from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, N.M. Pugno of Politecnico di Torino, Italy, and their colleagues showed that the superior performance of spider webs can be attributed to a combination of the silk threads' nonlinear stiffening response to strain— which is a result of a unique molecular structure—and their discrete geometrical arrangement in a web, rather than their remarkable strength and toughness as had been previously assumed.
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