Making music from spider webs

Spiders are master builders, expertly weaving strands of silk into intricate 3D webs that serve as the spider's home and hunting ground. If humans could enter the spider's world, they could learn about web construction, arachnid behavior and more. Today, scientists report that they have translated the structure of a web into music, which could have applications ranging from better 3D printers to cross-species communication and otherworldly musical compositions. The researchers will present their results today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). "The spider lives in an environment of vibrating strings," says Markus Buehler, Ph.D., the project's principal investigator, who is presenting the work.