In a study, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Rupnagar, have explored how prey is caught and retained by a healthy spider web when compared with a damaged one. The study, published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, was featured under the theme 'Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology'. The researchers studied the webs of St Andrew's Cross spider (Argiope aetherea), which builds orb-webs and belongs to the Araneidae family.
Researchers from BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad, have developed a safer, fluoride-free synthesis method for metal-organic frameworks that significantly boosts their capacity to capture greenhouse gases and store clean fuels at room temperature.