Science
Flies and mosquitoes beware, here comes the slingshot spider – Phys.org
Running into an unseen spiderweb in the woods can be scary enough, but what if you had to worry about a spiderweb—and the spider—being catapulted at you? That’s what happens to insects in the Amazon rain forests of Peru, where a tiny slingshot spider launches…

Running into an unseen spiderweb in the woods can be scary enough, but what if you had to worry about a spiderweband the spiderbeing catapulted at you? That’s what happens to insects in the Amazon rain forests of Peru, where a tiny slingshot spider launches a weband itselfto catch unsuspecting flies and mosquitoes.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have produced what may be the first kinematic study of how this amazing arachnid stores enough energy to produce acceleration of 1,…