Spider Web Intelligent Design
by Owen Borville
August 3, 2020
Biology
Spider webs are created out of spider silk, a protein-rich material excreted from the spider's spinnerets, or silk producing organs in the abdomen tip. The spider's silk is stored in the body as a concentrated liquid and transforms from liquid protein to solid form after leaving the spider's body. The spider web is most commonly used to catch prey but there are other uses. Some spider webs can reach across rivers and lakes up to 80 feet. Each variety of web-making spider produces a different web and their web pattern can be used to identify the particular spider.
The strength of a spider web is as strong as steel relative to its weight and spider webs have inspired engineers to design bullet-proof vests. Other engineering ideas inspired by spider web strength, elasticity, light weight, and their sticky glue include medical devices, artificial body parts, textiles, body armor, airbags, and helmets. However, as real spider silk is in short supply for commercial production, scientists have pursued genetic engineering to produce biological material with the properties of spider silk.
Spiders can make different types of silk into their webs that are composed of different proteins. Each type of silk serves a different purpose, such as improving the elasticity, protecting from bacteria and fungi, and preserving moisture. Spiders use a different silk to capture prey from the silk used to wrap up the prey. Spiders also use their silk to build egg sacs, shelters for themselves, and amazingly to fly in the wind up to hundreds of miles. Sometimes spiders can fly in groups of millions. Some types of spider silk can produce an electrostatic charge that helps capture and trap prey by drawing the web closer to the prey. All of these abilities are difficult to describe with random chance evolution over millions of years.
Some parts of the web are sticky and are used to capture prey, while other parts are not sticky, allowing the spider to move in these parts and not get stuck. The spider produces both sticky and non-sticky web material. The spider excretes a special type of glue along the web to capture prey. The spider also has tiny claws and hairs on its legs that keep it from getting stuck when it must walk on the sticky parts of the web.
The Diving Bell Spider can live underwater and has a bell-shaped web that is attached to aquatic plants and extends up to the surface. The bell spider climbs up to the surface to collect air bubbles to bring down to the bell web for air supply. This is incredible design in behavior and ability.
How is a spider web made? First, a long silk strand is produced and attached to an object such as a tree branch and allowed to flow with the wind until the other end attaches to another object, producing a horizontal line. The spider can adjust the length of the strand to make it tight. Then, a second horizontal strand is produced that is looser and hangs below the first strand. From the center of the second strand, a third strand is produced that extends downward and reaches the ground or another object, creating a Y shape. Two more strands are attached to the objects to produce a triangle shape. From the sides of this triangle, new strands are produced to reach the center of the Y shape. Then multiple spiral patterns are produced around the center getting progressively larger away from the center. While doing all of this, the spider produces both sticky strands that can catch prey while also producing non-sticky strands so that the spider itself will not get stuck. The spider will walk on the non-sticky strands and only walk on the sticky strands when it must, while using its specially designed feet to avoid getting stuck.
The origin of spider web making capability is difficult to describe using millions of years of random chance evolution. How does a spider acquire the ability to produce liquid silk in its body and excrete it in the form of solid silk stronger than steel? There must be Intelligent Design. Web-making spiders have a special organ in their body to produce silk webs that other animals and even other spiders do not have. In addition there are two separate organs, one for producing sticky silk and another for producing non-sticky silk and both of these would have to evolve at the same time or the spider would either get stuck in its sticky web or it would not be able to capture prey without the sticky silk. The spider would also have to evolve the special claws and hairs on its legs that keep it from getting stuck in the web that is stronger than steel for its size. Many spiders make a new web every night. How could a spider learn to create the complicated spiral and radial designs in a spider web and learn how to create it correctly in such a short period of time? Wouldn't it be easier to just eat bugs off of the ground?
The process of evolution of all of the necessary body parts and abilities to produce the spider webs would take so long that no spider could survive to reproduce. Eating prey off of the ground is much easier, but the spider takes considerable effort to produce a fancy web to capture one or two insects at a time. Web-producing spiders are making a living the hard way, which is evidence for a special creation and not random evolution over millions of years.
by Owen Borville
August 3, 2020
Biology
Spider webs are created out of spider silk, a protein-rich material excreted from the spider's spinnerets, or silk producing organs in the abdomen tip. The spider's silk is stored in the body as a concentrated liquid and transforms from liquid protein to solid form after leaving the spider's body. The spider web is most commonly used to catch prey but there are other uses. Some spider webs can reach across rivers and lakes up to 80 feet. Each variety of web-making spider produces a different web and their web pattern can be used to identify the particular spider.
The strength of a spider web is as strong as steel relative to its weight and spider webs have inspired engineers to design bullet-proof vests. Other engineering ideas inspired by spider web strength, elasticity, light weight, and their sticky glue include medical devices, artificial body parts, textiles, body armor, airbags, and helmets. However, as real spider silk is in short supply for commercial production, scientists have pursued genetic engineering to produce biological material with the properties of spider silk.
Spiders can make different types of silk into their webs that are composed of different proteins. Each type of silk serves a different purpose, such as improving the elasticity, protecting from bacteria and fungi, and preserving moisture. Spiders use a different silk to capture prey from the silk used to wrap up the prey. Spiders also use their silk to build egg sacs, shelters for themselves, and amazingly to fly in the wind up to hundreds of miles. Sometimes spiders can fly in groups of millions. Some types of spider silk can produce an electrostatic charge that helps capture and trap prey by drawing the web closer to the prey. All of these abilities are difficult to describe with random chance evolution over millions of years.
Some parts of the web are sticky and are used to capture prey, while other parts are not sticky, allowing the spider to move in these parts and not get stuck. The spider produces both sticky and non-sticky web material. The spider excretes a special type of glue along the web to capture prey. The spider also has tiny claws and hairs on its legs that keep it from getting stuck when it must walk on the sticky parts of the web.
The Diving Bell Spider can live underwater and has a bell-shaped web that is attached to aquatic plants and extends up to the surface. The bell spider climbs up to the surface to collect air bubbles to bring down to the bell web for air supply. This is incredible design in behavior and ability.
How is a spider web made? First, a long silk strand is produced and attached to an object such as a tree branch and allowed to flow with the wind until the other end attaches to another object, producing a horizontal line. The spider can adjust the length of the strand to make it tight. Then, a second horizontal strand is produced that is looser and hangs below the first strand. From the center of the second strand, a third strand is produced that extends downward and reaches the ground or another object, creating a Y shape. Two more strands are attached to the objects to produce a triangle shape. From the sides of this triangle, new strands are produced to reach the center of the Y shape. Then multiple spiral patterns are produced around the center getting progressively larger away from the center. While doing all of this, the spider produces both sticky strands that can catch prey while also producing non-sticky strands so that the spider itself will not get stuck. The spider will walk on the non-sticky strands and only walk on the sticky strands when it must, while using its specially designed feet to avoid getting stuck.
The origin of spider web making capability is difficult to describe using millions of years of random chance evolution. How does a spider acquire the ability to produce liquid silk in its body and excrete it in the form of solid silk stronger than steel? There must be Intelligent Design. Web-making spiders have a special organ in their body to produce silk webs that other animals and even other spiders do not have. In addition there are two separate organs, one for producing sticky silk and another for producing non-sticky silk and both of these would have to evolve at the same time or the spider would either get stuck in its sticky web or it would not be able to capture prey without the sticky silk. The spider would also have to evolve the special claws and hairs on its legs that keep it from getting stuck in the web that is stronger than steel for its size. Many spiders make a new web every night. How could a spider learn to create the complicated spiral and radial designs in a spider web and learn how to create it correctly in such a short period of time? Wouldn't it be easier to just eat bugs off of the ground?
The process of evolution of all of the necessary body parts and abilities to produce the spider webs would take so long that no spider could survive to reproduce. Eating prey off of the ground is much easier, but the spider takes considerable effort to produce a fancy web to capture one or two insects at a time. Web-producing spiders are making a living the hard way, which is evidence for a special creation and not random evolution over millions of years.
