Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!sunybcs!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: daveme%tekirl.labs.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET (Dave Mead) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Spider Silk Summary: dated material? Message-ID: <11607@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 21 Nov 89 04:20:59 GMT References: <11224@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Lines: 15 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Dave Mead Cross-hairs in many early rifle scopes were made of Black Widow silk because of its high strength and fine diameter. Dot reticule scopes suspended a laquer drop on the nearly invisible strands. Later optical designs went to etched glass or other materials for cross-hairs. I am sure Kevlar strands now surpass spider silk for tensile strength, but before that they were the strongest fiber of that size. I doubt they are still used and Newton's Apple was citing dated material. Dave Mead Tektronix Labs