“Of interest too is that they have genetically modified other web spinners to produce spider silk.”
That is interesting. You have validation for that statement? ;D
Kidding. Just making a point. I don’t need validation; I take your statement at face value. Demanding validation would be obsessive in this venue.
That said, if you have a reference easily at hand I wouldn’t mind reading up on that concept. Such genetic manipulation would seem a logical next step in the process: since spiders are aggressive predators, use a cooperative species to accomplish the task. Bagworms come immediately to mind, as they are a communal creature by nature and are prolific in production. There is also the “web-spinner” species that’s quite prolific.
I do find it interesting how often scientists try to mimic functions found in creation… and how often creation is so excellent at what it does. Scientific effort to mimic such is a credit to both the creator and scientists; imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It takes serious knowledge and skill to correctly replicate such highly-advanced and specialized functions.
“Does validation only have value in college if you are working on your thesis?”
No Bil, that should be obvious. But in casual conversations such as we see on these forums, validation is neither necessary nor expected. Do you really not understand that?
You don’t convince someone you’re right by insulting them. Even if you’re right on a point, what credit does that bring you if you lose other people’s respect? And if you’re wrong, the attitude just compounds the error. How many people on these forums have to mention repeatedly offensive posts before you change your methods?
I wouldn’t knock hunting and gathering. It puts food on the table and doesn’t destroy the planet. ; )
I’m not sure I agree with the comment about our population being one-tenth or less. It would all depend on how the planet is governed, if land is distributed fairly, and if people have an ounce of common sense.
Under the rule of Christ, that would work fine. But if we’re talking the way we’ve ruled this planet for the last several thousand years… yeah, I’d have to agree with you that we’d either severely overpopulate or underpopulate. Because if there is one thing mankind has proved with all certainty: we can’t govern ourselves worth a spit in a rainstorm.
"Read years ago that a single strand of a spider’s web is stronger then steel?”
That’s a safe statement, yes. Depends on how one looks at it. If you take spider web and steel of the same diameter, they have about the same strength… but spiderweb is far lighter.
If looking at mass (the same weight as steel) then spider web would be considerably stronger. We’ve achieved that using materials such as carbon fiber, which is about 5 times stronger than steel (depending on how it’s measured… again a size vs mass issue). I have seen an experiment in which carbon fiber was formed a specific way to make an automobile drive shaft and then put into a torque machine. It proved considerably more torque resistant than steel of equal size and formation… and was much lighter.
The problem they face with natural spider web is quantity and production.
There has been some research into artificial spider silk over the past few years and they’ve made significant advances. They apparently are getting closer to reaching their goals but aren’t quite there yet.
Lately they’ve invented an artificial “spider gland” that produces “actual spider silk”. But the final results aren’t in the last time I checked. As with all things, they probably still have a lot of kinks to work out. There’s usually a lengthy time gap between experimentation and production.
We know how experimenters tend to strive for perfection. Until they can say, “Yup, this material is equally strong to the strongest web and we can produce it for next to nothing”, they’ll keep trying.
That said, it seems that creation is always just one step ahead. Even in this tech/industrial age… the finest violin bows are still made out of horsetail hair. ;D
“The only “facts” that you have a problem with are the ones you haven’t made the effort to validate.”
Since this is a comics forum and not a college thesis, I saw no particular need to validate anything. Frankly, I didn’t notice any “validation” in your comments either. Arrogance yes, but that’s typical of your posts throughout these forums.
Whether you agree or disagree with a comment is irrelevant; you can still exercise a reasonable level of decency when replying to other commenters.
“Of interest too is that they have genetically modified other web spinners to produce spider silk.”
That is interesting. You have validation for that statement? ;D
Kidding. Just making a point. I don’t need validation; I take your statement at face value. Demanding validation would be obsessive in this venue.
That said, if you have a reference easily at hand I wouldn’t mind reading up on that concept. Such genetic manipulation would seem a logical next step in the process: since spiders are aggressive predators, use a cooperative species to accomplish the task. Bagworms come immediately to mind, as they are a communal creature by nature and are prolific in production. There is also the “web-spinner” species that’s quite prolific.
I do find it interesting how often scientists try to mimic functions found in creation… and how often creation is so excellent at what it does. Scientific effort to mimic such is a credit to both the creator and scientists; imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It takes serious knowledge and skill to correctly replicate such highly-advanced and specialized functions.