Exploring the shock response of spider webs.

Spider orb-webs are designed to allow for quick energy absorption as well as the constraint of drastic oscillations occurring upon prey impact. Studies on spider silk illustrate its impressive mechanical properties and its capacity to be used as technical fibers in composite materials. Models have previously been used to study the mechanical properties of different silk fibers, but not the behavior of the spider web as a whole.

Potential use of gelcasting hydroxyapatite porous ceramic as an implantable drug delivery system.

Hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramic in a porous configuration is suggested as a drug release system. A new technique for the production of this material, based on the foaming of suspensions and in situ polymerization (gelcasting method), resulted in a material whose characteristics are likely to make it useful as an implantable drug delivery system. Three batches of HA ceramic with different porosities were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).