After being bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker becomes Spiderman. A superhero with spidey-senses and extra abilities, like clinging to ceilings.
In some reincarnations, Spiderman can shoot web straight from his wrists. In others, he builds web shooters which uses artificial spiderwebs.
Dr Paul Hume, MacDiarmid Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington, chats with Bryan Crump about how spider silk might hold up to this sort of use in real life.
June 17, 2024