"Ballooning" Spiders Use Electrostatic Forces to Generate Lift

Posted by kentuckyfc on Monday September 23, 2013 @07:16AM
from the medium.com dept.

( 3 comments | 5 points | on HN )

Re:"Ballooning" Spiders Use Electrostatic Forces to Generate... by leephillips on Monday September 23, 2013 @03:49PM (#6433685)

The negative charge on spider silk has also recently been discovered to enhance the ability of webs to capture insects:

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Re:"Ballooning" Spiders Use Electrostatic Forces to Generate... by tocomment on Monday September 23, 2013 @07:47AM (#6430179)

I saw this in the story:

“This field exists globally in the atmosphere with an average surface magnitude of 120 Volts per metre pointing downward,” says Gorham.

I never knew this. Where does it come from? Why can't it be used to generate power?

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Re:"Ballooning" Spiders Use Electrostatic Forces to Generate... by tocomment on Monday September 23, 2013 @07:46AM (#6430175)

Wow, I wonder if this effect could be scaled up? I'd love to try to build a small prototype.

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