Friday, March 27, 2009

Lost In Space

Dogs, monkeys, humans, and now spiders in space. Two orb weaving spiders have been sent on a holiday to the International Space Station. Although one of them may not have made it the other is reported as fit and healthy. In fact it isn't quite known what happened to the one as it escaped a few days after launch. Luckily the one that is missing was the back up spider, only required if the chief came to grief. It is interesting that the orb spiders seem to have been rather thrown by the lack of gravity. Instead of their normal beautifully arranged webs, they have spun a tangled mass of threads.

That's one small step for a spider, one giant leap for arachnidkind, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another.

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