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Invisible but stronger than steel. Complex architectural marvels. Things that stick to your face. Spiderwebs are much more than just Halloween decor or something to feather dust from your corners. Spider silk expert Dr. Randy Lewis of Utah State University not only coined the word "spidroin" for the proteins comprising the many types of silk, but he is considered one of the foremost experts on the wonders of spiderwebs. Alie visits his lab and chats about how spiders weave them, what the silk is made of, and how realistic your favourite spidey superhero’s antics are. You'll never (not) see a spiderweb the same.
A donation went to the Women's Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Workshop
Full-length (*not* G-rated) Spidroinology episode + tons of science links
More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!
Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month
OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!
Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky
Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok
Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, and Steven Ray Morris
Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jake Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert
Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
By Alie Ward4.8
366366 ratings
Invisible but stronger than steel. Complex architectural marvels. Things that stick to your face. Spiderwebs are much more than just Halloween decor or something to feather dust from your corners. Spider silk expert Dr. Randy Lewis of Utah State University not only coined the word "spidroin" for the proteins comprising the many types of silk, but he is considered one of the foremost experts on the wonders of spiderwebs. Alie visits his lab and chats about how spiders weave them, what the silk is made of, and how realistic your favourite spidey superhero’s antics are. You'll never (not) see a spiderweb the same.
A donation went to the Women's Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Workshop
Full-length (*not* G-rated) Spidroinology episode + tons of science links
More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!
Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month
OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!
Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky
Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok
Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media, and Steven Ray Morris
Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jake Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert
Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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