[DUMBGRUNT]

Spyder, Spyder burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

[Vermont Lt]

If a spider can do it, how long until aircraft can do it?

[rightwingcrazy]

“conduct static electricity”

Now that’s a neat trick.

[TigersEye]

Imagine how far spiders could fly with nuclear power?

[Pearls Before Swine]

How do spiders behave under high-tension powerlines?

[wastedyears]

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Nowhere in the article do they explain exactly how the spiders' use of static electricity allows them to fly. In fact, they hint that they are still trying to figure it out.

If all of the strands of web are negatively charged and the Earth's surface is negatively charged with respect to the clouds, then it would make sense for the spiders to be repelled away from the Earth and toward the sky.

This would explain their ability to launch quickly from the ground even in low wind conditions.

However, in order to move across the Earth they would either have to be blown by the wind or they would have to encounter some sort of lateral voltage gradient.

[KarlInOhio]

Fighting spiders from the sky. Fearless bugs who jump and die.

[tinyowl]

I have always believed Malaysian Flight 370 probably encountered a really big spider. If you think about it, there are so many legs on a spider that it's like hitting many many geese at once. 4.00 to be exact right down to the integer. The spider would just spin the plane in its web once it destroyed the engine, then roll it all up like they do and suck everybody's brains and guts out. Before you know it, there's no one left to fly the dang plane and then splash!

Then just hover around until the next plane comes along and its lights out for them too. Splash.

Soon there would be so much plane junk floating 'neath the troublesome arachnid that its friends could cross from continent to continent, form a plan, spread out and target whole airports. Then it's on to boats and helicopters. Pretty soon you're talking about a real grassroots call for shutting that whole operation down, possibly you get them to sit down at a table and tell them it violates the commerce clause, and then probably they would stop, and go back to just putting up insect nets like they used to.

[\/\/ayne]

[GoldenPup]

... it was theoretically possible for spiders to use their silk to conduct static electricity as a means to fly

🐂💨💩

[Pelham]

In what distant deeps or skies,
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

[Oscar in Batangas]

I just wonder how the heck do they get the Sears Diehard®
off the ground.

[bunkerhill7]

When I listen to my girlfriend talk all I hear is a lot of static. Could she be related to Spider Woman?

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3668631/posts

[dfwgator]

Are they from Mars?