Space elevator
and about time too.
Scientists in Indiana have announced success in producing a genetically modified abomination-style combo creature which is part spider and part silkworm. They believe that their creation will be handy for the production of next-generation bulletproof vests, among other things. The cunning thing about the new arachno-worms is …
So when the moth emerges from the chrysalis (assuming that it will be strong enough now) will it have fangs and eight eyes and 64 knees as well as wings and spinnerets.
I don't mind moths and I don't mind spiders when they are not too close or on my bedroom ceiling at bedtime. But frankly the thought of flying spiders is a bit more than scarey.
not sure if there's a movie franchise in a story about a kid that gets bitten by a radioactive worm and gains the ability to move, quite slowly, through mud and can re-grow himself when he gets chopped in half by a garden spade by his old aunty in a case of mistaken identity
One other barrier to "farming" the super-silkworms in certain places occurs to me, though: UK and EU regulations restricting GMO farming. Or are those worded so as only to apply to plants?
I can already visualize Mr. Page's column from ten years hence, railing against crushingly expensive attempts to produce super-silk vests in some other way, rather than just buy cheap ones from the Yanks...
Indeed they have but the yield is ~~1g/litre of milk and the product needs chromatography to purify it and seems to be used for very high performance (expensive) applications.
Are you sure your carpet isn't mohair - the silky fabric from Angora goats
Oh no. Somebody actually watched that film in its entirety? It must be among the worst scripted, and most unconvincingly acted films I have seen in a long time. Even the bits which were obviously meant to be funny somehow would leave you thinking: "What the heck is going on? Is the director passed out in a corner?" Which was quite surprising, considering it had so many promising names among its cast.
Where is that Selective Memory Erasing Device. *cringe*