【CNBETA】据英国《每日邮报》5月16日报道，哈佛大学及巴黎第六大学合作制造出液态线状纤维，像蜘蛛丝一样可以黏着并且富有弹性。众所周知，蛛丝富有弹性并能承受重力。如今，科学家在研究了蛛网之后，研制出了这种新型强力纤维。美国国家科学院院刊杂志刊登了这一成果，文章中，科学家们描述了蛛丝为何在经历过多次拉伸后还能保持紧绷不变形。
研究表明，拉伸后的蛛丝会立即被卷进水胶液滴，这种物质包围在整个蛛网上。液滴的作用不只使蛛丝变粘稠，可以抓住小飞虫这么简单。它们有足够的力量将松散的蛛丝卷回，这是蛛丝能够一直保持紧绷的原因。
科学家们依靠纤维弹性和液滴表面张力的微妙平衡，分析了这种新特性，使用油液滴和塑料纤维，研究人员就可以完成这项技术。研发出的纤维拥有蛛丝一样的特性，科学家们还表示这种纤维在材料、工程学和医学等方面拥有广泛的用途。（来源cnbeta，仅供参考）
小编补充参考文献：In-drop capillary spooling of spider capture thread inspires hybrid fibers with mixed solid–liquid mechanical properties，doi: 10.1073/pnas.1602451113
Abstract
An essential element in the web-trap architecture, the capture silk spun by ecribellate orb spiders consists of glue droplets sitting astride a silk filament. Mechanically this thread presents a mixed solid–liquid behavior unknown to date. Under extension, capture silk behaves as a particularly stretchy solid, owing to its molecular nanosprings, but it totally switches behavior in compression to now become liquid-like: It shrinks with no apparent limit while exerting a constant tension. Here, we unravel the physics underpinning the unique behavior of this ”liquid wire” and demonstrate that its mechanical response originates in the shape-switching of the silk filament induced by buckling within the droplets. Learning from this natural example of geometry and mechanics, we manufactured programmable liquid wires that present previously unidentified pathways for the design of new hybrid solid–liquid materials.