AFHU

As territorial and cannibalistic creatures, Spiders have defied our attempts to domesticate them for the purpose of harvesting their silk. But because a strand of spider silk is as much as six times stronger than steel and five times lighter, scientists have long searched for ways to replicate or mimic the production of this natural protein fiber. 

Trying to imagine all the possible real-world applications of readily produced spider silk can lead to fantastical ideas. It turns out, some scientists calculated a few years ago, that Spider-Man’s famous feat of stopping a runaway subway train with spider webs is ...

Israeli food tech company Chef-it is about 18-24 months away from disrupting the fast food burger industry, according to Oded Shoseyov, Chef-it’s co-founder. The startup’s secret weapon: cellulose.

Chef-it is developing a machine that can instantly “print” a juicy burger from a cartridge containing plant-based proteins, fats, and flavor components and the aforementioned cellulose, a common fiber that can be manipulated into a variety of textures, including that of beef muscle and fat. Chef-it’s technology uses infrared light to simultaneously cook the food as it prints.

Oded Shoseyov. Photo: Tal Azoulay

According to Mr. Shoseyov, a professor ...