SAC-SPIDER

FIGURE 7.7 Usage of the pulse shaper to simplify SPIDER pulse compression, as employed in the SAC-SPIDER method (von Vacano et al. 2006b, 2007). See text for details. 

The major textiles before the 1920s were wool (animal hair), cotton (a seed pod), and silk (a protein used for making cocoons). The silk spider also had a clever device in its abdomen for expelling a gel in a sac through a spinneret where reactions with air made a solid fiber with a uniform cross section. DuPont took this idea in spinning hydrolyzed cellulose into rayon fibers and scaling-the process up far beyond the needs of spiders. 

Other types of spider webs include tangle webs and sheet webs sptm by different species. Many other insects spin silk fibers for cocoons, shelter, egg sacs, egg stalks, and tunnels. For example, tarantulas use silk to spin tunnel-shaped shelters, and spin fibers from their feet as support lines. Caddisfiy larvae spin underwater tubes and nets, and the aquatic midge spins underwater silk tubes. Honeybee larvae spin silk to inCTease the mechanical strength and thermal stability of the beehive. These silks are subject to inaeasing amounts of research, as reviewed in Reference 11. 

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