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A taut tug on the line signals the arrival of dinner, and the leggy spider dashes across the web to find a tasty squirming insect. The spider, known as an orb weaver, must perfectly execute this moment, from a lightning-fast reaction to an artfully spun web glistening with sticky glue. Material scientists are interested in mimicking this glue -- nature’s great adhesive -- for human products, and rely on biologists to determine factors involved in its creation, as well as its capabilities and limitations.
Image credit: Lindsay Taylor Key, Virginia Tech
