Japanese chemist Shigeyoshi Osaki of Nara Medical University (Japan) has used
silk from the spider Nephila maculata to make violin strings . The Japanese researcher, who is an expert in polymer chemistry and has been working with spider silk for 35 years, had previously suggested that the material could be used for surgical sutures and in bulletproof vests, but his passion for music has led him to put first test how this material would work on a musical instrument. The resulting sound, he says, is deep and smooth, although slightly different from that produced by a classical violin to the ears of a professional violinist.
During the assembly of most yarns there are many spaces between the fibers. With spider silk, however, there is no gap between the filaments, allowing for stronger fibers . In fact, Osaki himself claims to have created a rope from spider silk that would support up to 600 kilograms of weight without flinching. Details of the research will be published in the journal Physical Review Letters .
