[decimon]

Pancake paradox ping.

[JoeProBono]

[stripes1776]

So does this mean that in the future buildings will be constructed of silk instead of steel? Just don't put your building in the sun or it will rot.

[wendy1946]

Archery equipment manufacturers take note...

[trek]

"One surprising finding from the new work is that there is a critical dependence of the properties of silk on the exact size of these beta-sheet crystals within the fibers. When the crystal size is about three nanometers (billionths of a meter), the material has its ultra-strong and ductile characteristics. But let those crystals grow just beyond to five nanometers, and the material becomes weak and brittle. "

Sounds like natural selection to me. Just a bunch or random processes sorting out the creatures spinning silk with varying crystal sizes changing unpredictably by mutation induced by random process until ... BAMMO! three nanometers! No more, no less.

I'm convinced.

[SunkenCiv]

...scientists at MIT have unraveled some of their deepest secrets in research that could lead the way to the creation of synthetic materials that duplicate, or even exceed, the extraordinary properties of natural silk.

Unfortunately, I can predict right now that artificial silk substitutes will, like breast implants, microwave ovens, cell phones, and growth hormones in cattle, lead to billions of cancer deaths. :') Thanks decimon.

[grey_whiskers]

Someone had to be the first.