Scientists turned a spider’s web into a stunning musical instrument

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a tool that allows you to turn a web into a source of signals. Spiders perceive the world almost 100% through the sensation of vibrations and fluctuations of the environment. Therefore, their web in reality is a complex mechanism of interaction with the world, and not a primitive trap at all.

Three-dimensional scanning allowed to reproduce the structure of spider’s web in details and show the features of interaction between its strands. It turned out that all of them literally make sounds, which are very different from situation to situation. For example the thread can vibrate from the wind, flutter from the movements of prey or at all tore if it’s too big, which echoes through the rest of the web. For a spider this is invaluable information and a guide to action.

It is clear that insects have no purpose to compose music, but the web was so harmoniously structured that its melody is born by itself, if you translate the vibrations into the sounds of musical instruments. Scientists see this as an opportunity to develop our knowledge in 3D printing complex structures that will have multiple functions at the same time.