The article fails to explain how the fibers solidify instantly. Reading the actual research paper reveals the critical technical innovation: dopamine accelerates the transition by pulling water away from the silk, and a coaxial needle setup shoots the silk solution surrounded by acetone. The acetone triggers solidification, then evaporates in mid-air. This is the actual breakthrough.
> Spiders don’t actually shoot their silk into the air. They make contact with a surface first, attach a strand, then pull and arrange their webs with careful choreography.
Spiders don't shoot their silk into the air when spinning a web. Some spiders, however, migrate by ballooning: they stand upside down, rear ends (and spinnerets) in the air, and send a thread of silk skyward, where it catches the wind or heat currents and lifts the spider toward parts unknown.
Spiders don't shoot their silk into the air when spinning a web. Some spiders, however, migrate by ballooning: they stand upside down, rear ends (and spinnerets) in the air, and send a thread of silk skyward, where it catches the wind or heat currents and lifts the spider toward parts unknown.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_silk#Uses