SPIDER SILK VIOLIN STRINGS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2B_QHGIOZo

Shigeyoshi Osaki makes violin strings out of spider silk and claims that – in the right hands – they produce a beautiful sound.

 

His latest creation is making waves among musicians who praise the sonorous quality of the spider silk violin strings for their ‘soft and profound timbre’.

His passion for the violin inspired him to create something with a musical twist. Thousands of the tiny strands are wound together and produce a strong yet flexible cord that is perfect for the instrument claims Prof. Osaki.

Osaki, professor of polymer chemistry at Nara Medical University has been working with spider silk for 35 years. “Spider silk strings can have all sorts of applications in our day-to-day lives,” he said and suggested the material be used for surgical sutures and for bulletproof vests. 

The silk Osaki used came from 300 female Nephila maculata spiders. Known as golden orb weavers, these spiders are native to Asia and are among the largest anywhere, with bodies an inch long and legs stretching up to seven inches.

Each string is made up of about 5,000 individual strands of silk twisted in one direction to form a bundle. Three such bundles were then twisted together in the opposite direction.

As it turned out, the spider silk strings were weaker than the traditional catgut, but stronger than the modern aluminum strings with nylon cores. When the strings were examined with an electron microscope Osaki found that the individual strands of silk left less space between them, because they would deform to different shapes under tension.

Osaki once produced a rope spun from spider silk that he said could theoretically support a 600 kg (1,300 pound) weight. As many as three hundred female Nephila maculata spiders provide his raw materials.

Spider silk is widely regarded as the strongest natural thread known, at least half as strong as steel thread of the same thickness, and much more elastic.

Source: Yomiuri News and Discovery News

Much stronger than steel threads or spider silk is the cord of love God gently uses to draw his own to Himself!

I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love:

(Hos. 11:4a).

The cords of a man are such as parents use in leading weak or young children. It is the opposite of rough ropes which men employ in taming or breaking wild and unmanageable animals.

God’s bands of love are very tender and strong.

Oh! Would we but respond to such incredible tender love!