Spider silk could be used as robotic muscle - Technology Times

Spider silk, already known as one of the strongest materials for its weight, turns out to have another unusual property that might lead to new kinds of artificial muscles or robotic actuators, researchers have found. A team from MIT and Huazhong University of Science and Technology has showed that spider silk could contract and twist in humidity that can be used to make artificial muscle or robotic actuators. The demonstrated that slender spider fibers could suddenly shrink in response to changes in moisture, hence portraying a strong torsional force, a process known as'supercontraction'. The team suspended a weight from the spider silk to make a type of pendulum. They then enclosed it in a chamber where they could control the relative humidity inside.