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Nature and Environment

Our beautiful planet

February 10, 2017

So light and delicate they can often only be seen picked out in sunlight and dew, spiderwebs have the tensile strength of steel. There are more than 45,000 species of spider, spinning webs of all shapes and sizes.

https://p.dw.com/p/2XMS7
Future Now Projekt Bionik Bild 19 Spinnennetz
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

A spiderweb picked out in the morning sunlight and dew highlights nature’s incredible ingenuity. A deathtrap to insects, it’s nonetheless a thing of beauty to the human eye. The spider’s engineering prowess is inspiring too. Spider silk has incredible properties of strength and elasticity, and synthetic versions are being developed with technological applications from car parts to bullet-proof vests.

Do you have an image from your natural local surroundings you want to share with readers? If so, you can send it to us using the upload tool on our page, or by emailing us at ecoafrica@dw.com