Cheryl Hayashi: The magnificence of spider silk

www.ted.com Cheryl Hayashi studies spider silk, one of nature's most high-performance materials. Each species of spider can make up to 7 very different kinds of silk. How do they do it? Hayashi explains at the DNA level -- then shows us how this super-strong, super-flexible material can inspire.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate

[@heatherwind]

I freely admit, I am arachnophobic, but I found this to be incredibly fascinating. I had NO idea a single spider could produce multiple silks!

[@begekolcakova9485]

Alo w deyqwD

[@soniablanche5672]

how did you watch this video if you are arachnophobia ?

[@hitdadougiedouglas2929]

Heatherwind racist lol

[@Deady4u]

I think you're just "scared" of spiders. If you actually had the phobia would probably have a panic attack just hearing the word spider

[@willowtreephoto]

It is always a pleasure to listen to someone speak who is passionate about what they do and take great effort in sharing their knowledge and joy with others. I love how she glazed over how spider silk can be useful to humans, she stands in awe of them.

[@gfanarakos]

This is the best speech on spiders ever heard ...just fascinated great

[@jonathanmetillon]

9:28 demonstration of how different types of silk are used to capture preys is amazing.

[@neonpaintsplash]

Is this the same woman that talks about the spiders in the first Spider-Man movie?

[@anthonypascual9347]

Just about to comment that lmao

[@TheGoldenTurtl3]

0.o (checks now)

[@harish10bhushan]

i knoww what? they all look the same

[@Bonerlord]

i thought this exactly

[@user-yl5dg2pb1o]

I have a question about insect spiders .Is the textile industry the specialty of female spider? Do male spiders produce tissue and thread? Please send both questions to biologists and nature

[@stride7860]

Very interesting talk. I love TED's videos, thank you for sharing these

[@CaptainSnackbar]

i'm arachnophobic too, but the possible application for the silk is amazing and worth exploring

[@bnjmne]

i was expecting her to finish by saying that her shirt is made of spider silk :(

[@noctisvigil470]

I don't think spider silk is the easiest thing to come by, takes a lor of time and many of them to make stuff, see the golden orb weaver silk weaving project, guys took quite a while in make those things, and a lot of them.

[@christianmcbrearty]

Same 😂

[@cbigpicture11]

Thank you. Fascinating! There is not enough appreciation in the general population for the fantastic wonders of the smaller beings on this planet. Thanks again for this presentation!

[@remiborgen8925]

This is like the coolest thing I've seen, definitely gonna pick up on my passion for spiders

[@santarigreen]

like a spider does, she captured my imagination and stretched my thinking ~ this wasn't just a talk but rather an adventure into the magical realms

[@BootlessDave]

That was a fascinating Talk. I always knew spider silk was amazing. Can't wait to see all the tech that comes from this once we're able to re-produce it artificially!

[@brandeericoy472]

my mind the whole talk *spiderman spiderman spiderma-*

[@valken666]

She's the Spiderwoman!

[@landonrivers]

I am in love with her, dude. This is so enlightening.

[@crimsonsamuraiftw]

12:50 is the best part, considering the future possible bio-medical applications.

[@JensEmilBMunck]

What does the Q and Y mean in the DNA sequence? Are they an aminoacid?

[@hazelsleep4264]

I think that if a scientist figured out a way to replace the proteins in a chickens egg with that of the proteins of spider silk, we could more easily synthesize spider silk for industrial use purposes. Knowing how strong these materials are, and maybe even pairing with carbon nanotubules we could theoretically create a material capable of helping us engineer a space elevator.

[@imaginenoreligion]

Turn off the TV and watch TED instead! Fascinating!

[@zvolencan1]

Silk is terrific. :)

[@sepiae]

Excellent. Although this is but a teaser for what Mrs. Hayashi could tell us about.

[@whotfisniurka]

LOVED IT !!!!❤❤❤

[@Skeluz]

This was a great talk. I had no idea that their silk was that special. I have an irrational fear of spiders but now I have a rational respect and interest in them.

[@BudhaXIII]

"It frees us from the constraints of our imagination." - Imagination has no constraints. Lack of it, however...

[@haigfeinn]

how the hell do you spell that spiders name, the one with the strongest drag line -.-

[@bradq]

Interesting. I have been noticing lately how leaves hanging by a spiders thread can spin and spin in the wind without breaking. There are several outside right now.

[@holdmybeer]

i love black widows, they are sooo pretty.

[@muhammed.a.k]

Superb Presentation

[@poarak]

Never imagined that this very flexible and stunning tool is so old. I think Spiders never developed higher brains because this tool is so perfect.

[@Dmevi]

What does she say at 12:43? the word for people turning to nature to find new applications? can some1 help me to this word :)

[@TheGerogero]

Had no idea that nylon et al. were outperformed so badly :O

[@PaintSlinger99]

@Benawisan thanx

[@parisarezghi3901]

So good

[@Benlucky13]

@ecvanbrussel i think that the 'toughness' refers to the strength of the individual fiber as compared to its own weight; as i dont see why we would use Kevlar for bullet proof vests and such if nylon were stronger. although honestly i dont know XD

[@bradbust1]

totally

[@robertallen2922]

Didn't one of the researchers say...spiders have a tendency...to each others!

[@skyblazer7]

Spiders are cool, especially the jumping spider.

[@Strand0410]

That shirt is just fabulous dahling

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

@AngeloWillems "Due to the difficulties in extracting and processing substantial amounts of spider silk, there is currently only one known piece of cloth made of spider silk, an 11-by-4-foot (3.4 by 1.2 m) textile with a golden tint made in Madagascar in 2009. 82 people worked for four years to collect over one million golden orb spiders and extract silk from them." -wikipedia. So.... no. I seriously doubt that.

[@Spencerianism]

The Itsy Bitsy spider climed up the water spout.

[@humudu]

what is this spider pronounced skytodies? how do you spell it

[@tigress63]

I thought it was intuitive that scytodids would have a very tough drag line because its prey would be bigger and more or less the one chance to capture it's prey. With a web the smaller prey gets tangled. It's similar to how people fish- depends what you're fishing for... With a net you get smaller bodied prey opposed to single line 80lb line used for larger prey.

[@Garrettthief]

Going to such conference costs about 3000-6000 Dollar....and they can´t made HD-vids? :/ Still awesome stuff and great that it gets shared :)

[@happyandauthentic]

Spiderman should use her idea about the spider silk armor!

[@enzotje123]

14 mins about spider silk? challenge accepted!

[@Regnberg]

No wonder they are unrivaled as predators in their field! I love spiders!

[@Justgoodvids]

When I saw this in my Sub Box I was like :DDDDD

[@inongchin4108]

Rick Owens produced a bomber jacket made of 100% tactile silk weave for his Spring Summer 2015 collection ... Wondering if it made of spider silk ... ( Pillbug Combo Silk Flight Jacket )

[@SkyGuySunny]

She is adorable.

[@KeshiaRambles]

It sounds like she's saying "stinky droplet"

[@invinciblemode]

@omegaroyal The sequence wasn't from a DNA, it's from proteins in the silk

[@HouwariAttack]

...why is there a discussion about creationism vs evolution on a video about SPIDER SILK?

[@gfanarakos]

you rock my dear !!!!!!!!

[@agprebel]

I wonder what material her shirt is made of..

[@apodis4900]

What a cool video.

[@DeltaCommando52]

14:04 NOT THAT CLOSE

[@deth2munkies]

"Until quite recently spider silk had the highest tensile strength known to man. And the name silksteel pays homage to the arachnid for good reason. -Commissioner Pravin Lal, 'U.N. Scientific Survey'" That's what came to mind when I saw this, though I'm aware it's scientifically inaccurate.

[@zz773]

@TheIslammiracle You have an awesome channel!

[@Asif_I]

Just simply elaborated

[@SilverMiraii]

It's not a question if one could eat spider silk or any other substance, but rather, what are the effects on the human body.

[@tristanm2620]

3:55 - 8:26

[@MastermindX]

Who would have known spiders were that old! Who is their anti-aging therapist?

[@rockfan1]

Read somewhere ancient humans applied silk to a wound to stop the bleeding.

[@sufimubashshirahmed9896]

Yeah , we used to do that in ancient Bengal.But it wasn't just silk,u need some kind of cellulose and you definitely need to clean the wound beforehand.

[@Razzfazz87]

I'll do some stresstests on the next net I find. Flick half dead flies in it.

[@Epeenification]

@sharan01s I completely agree.

[@ZeJJimBo]

Is almost entirely protein... Now I'm wondering could you eat spider silk...

[@dookiecheez]

Spider silk in medicine. It may not be rational, but in all honesty that scares me. O.O

[@Pythagoras1990]

I'm not in disagreement with what she discusses about spider silk but there are other insects that hold true to their form of ability memes and it is just that right now spiders are getting some attention at research.

[@happyfrankie]

I think i've just obtained an arachnophobia.

[@0MoTheG]

With their big forward eyes, those non webbing spiders (Salticidae) are almost cute.

[@SirArghPirate]

Great. It can also be used in warfare.

[@rockfan1]

Scientist still can’t reverse engineer a spider’s silk in a lab. They say it’s not the same; the spider’s silk is one-of-kind.

[@AngeloWillems]

Is it just me... or was she wearing a spider silk shirt ? It looks like really shiny leather

[@Epeenification]

@eArtrash a fine line :).

[@user-mi1ih6mf8h]

2018

[@droma51090]

her collaborators

[@ChrisWMF]

shes lovely.

[@rajasmasala]

@lilchimy had a chem teacher who stubbornly pronounced stoichiometry as 'stoichemistry'... don;t know how they do it.

[@Kaeralho]

aww, cmon. how can we not be scared by aliens after seeing a bit of what we have home?

[@rickyroko1]

I want to work with her!

[@ConceptVBS]

27 people scratched their arms.

[@tankusfred]

@Lojikish Not evil, simply livid when staring at you...

[@plaindan64]

how much do you think she would flip if she saw spiderman?

[@neoxavier]

now, i know which spider bite peter parker

[@srgwarcock]

@vegetablesocialist Thumbs up for this guy ^

[@MonopolyTB]

I am sure there was a TEDtalk about spidersilk before..

[@bobojimlol865]

@elemenz888 seriously... after the whole video your comment is about her top O.o

[@ExclusiveManual]

*gulp*

[@GoDrex]

@elemenz888 probably silk

[@Dmevi]

@omegaroyal haha DNA is, but DNA is translated into RNA, and RNA is transcripted into protein, and protein exist of Codons, 1 codon=3 bases. google it :) so Q and S are codenames for peptides.

[@ryanc519]

Peter Parker spidey has 2 more sacs than a normal spider

[@isthattrue]

11:33 She doesn't seem to know Darwin's bark spider. It is an orb-weaver spider that produces silk with an average toughness of 350 MJ/m3. Some fibres have 520 MJ/m3. Imagine, where the dot for that would be. :)

[@Titter85]

@Dmevi: I think and almost hear it is biomimetisists from the word: biomimetic or just bionics. More on wikipedia. Hope I helped you :)

[@timar03]

@elemenz888 no silly. its made of spyder silk! haven't you been listening?

[@pawel5280]

Soon the will use spider silk as a layer in balloons to lift heavy loads into space

[@gusphraba]

@BlueDragonStudios well it IS interesting that she wears leather, not silk

[@pinkusensei]

@elemenz888 It would make more sense, given the subject of the talk, for her to wear a silk blouse.

[@KaiTendo174]

@elemenz888 why not? :D

[@spideycentz]

I approve this message.

[@christianmcbrearty]

I approve your approval

[@DeoMachina]

I love spiders :3

[@GeekProdigyGuy]

Comments like most of the ones on this vid are what make life depressing... It's frustrating to see how many idiots there are making fun of the speaker/topic, or just posting crap about her shirt. People, this was a 15 minute video that was supposed to give a small glimpse into nature's wonders. Is a little respect and decent listening skill too much to ask for? On-topic: Does anybody know of any practical reasons why scytodes's silk is not as commercialized despite being stronger?