Vollrath, Fritz

By CEDRIC DICKO, JOHN M. KENNEY/ AND FRITZ VOLLRATH ... 

If smart fibers began to be widely used, perhaps clothes and other fabrics would become more adaptable. Nature is one place to look for inspiration. Olivier Emile and Albert Le Floch of the Universite de Rennes in France and Fritz Vollrath at Oxford University in England studied why spiders rarely spin around when hanging from their silk threads. Most fibers turn and twist, as a climber dangling from a rope knows all too well, yet a suspended spider is stable. The researchers discovered that spider silk has a kind of shape memory in which it rapidly recovers its shape, resisting any twisting motion. This research, Shape Memory in Spider Draglines, was published in Nature in 2006. 

Emile, Olivier, Albert Le Floch, and Fritz Vollrath. Shape Memory in Spider Draglines. Nature 440 (March 30, 2006) 621. The researchers discovered that spider silk has a kind of memory in which it rapidly recovers its shape. 

Professor Fritz Vollrath and Professor Alexander Sponner Department of Zoology University of Oxford South Parks Road Oxford 0X1 3PS UK... 

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