Ideas worth spreading

The magnificence of spider silk

950,767 views |

Cheryl Hayashi |

TED2010

• February 2010

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.

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.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Cheryl Hayashi

Spider silk scientist

See speaker profile

Cheryl Hayashi studies the delicate but terrifically strong silk threads that make up a spider's web, finding startling applications for human use.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.