On July 25 2017 the documentary movie “16 Legs” about Tasmania, Tasmanian caves, and cave spiders (Hickmania troglodytes) and glow worms featured at the International Congress of Speleology at Penrith Leagues Club, Penrith. The documentary features footage from a 2015 field expedition to Tasmania by Dakota Piorkowski and Hamish Craig to collect spiders and spider…
DetailsFifty-five years on from Silent Spring the impacts on ecosystems and non-target beneficial organisms and human health from the widespread use of insecticides in agriculture is well documented. Insecticides directly reduce the populations of beneficial pollinating and pest killing invertebrates, such as bees and spiders, and indirectly affect soil and aquatic animal populations through runoff…
DetailsSean Blamires and Aditya Rawal have received a Hermon Slade Foundation grant to do further research into spider silk genetics, artificial spinning and NMR analyses.
Sean Blamires was interviewed by Ali Clarke on ABC Morning Radio on February, discussing the wonders of spider silks, their commercial applications and which spiders that spin the best silks.
My article Why we can’t spin a silken yarn as strong as a spider can appeared in The Conversation on Thursday February 2, 2017.
Read it here:
The following article featured in the Sydney Morning Heral article, July 30, 2016:
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/sonic-mysteries-of-spider-silk-open-pathways-to-new-synthetic-materials-20160728-gqgaqa.html
