Spiders are by far the spookiest creatures that we have been living with, and people are afraid of a spider bite more than major surgery, perhaps influenced by the movies made on tarantulas and spiders. Cobwebs are also annoying, getting these spooky creatures close to our eyes in all corners of the home. But have you ever tried speaking to these uninvited guests? Well, you could now do so in an organized way as scientists are exploring ways to mediate communication between spiders and humans. 

Scientists in the United States are translating the structure of the cobweb spun by spiders into musical notes. It has been believed that the melodies that are being generated from the web could allow people to talk and communicate with spiders. For years, casino game developers have used this science to create slot games for online casinos. The music you hear while playing anything from slots to Fortnite is not coincidental. According to research, the background music in the game has a strong influence on the gambler to play more, take higher risks and even place larger bets when gambling for money

Music From Cobwebs

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have translated the patterns in spider webs into musical notes. They expect that this initiative will have applications in 3D printer technology to advanced musical compositions. It is also expected to promote and mediate cross-species communications as the spider lives in an environment of vibrating strings.

The spiders are not capable of high-level vision, and their senses are based on the vibrations they emit and are perceived in different frequencies. Thus, these webs can be a new musical inspiration source, which can be widely different from the usual human experiences. The results of this study have been presented at the spring meeting conducted by the American Chemical Society.

Breaking Down The Chains From The Web Of The Spider

To decode the spider’s web and translate it into music notes, the researchers are first required to enter the spider’s web and understand its technicalities in detail. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology started their experiment by scanning the natural web of the spider with the help of a laser. According to reports, they were able to capture the 2D cross-sections of these spider webs and use computer algorithms to reconstruct the 3D network of the web, according to reports.

The researchers then assigned the different frequencies of sound to strands of the spider web, thus creating musical notes. These notes are then combined in patterns based on the 3D structure of the web to generate music tunes and melodies. Following the creating of tunes, a harp-like instrument was created, and the researchers played spider web music in several live performances all over the world.

The best feature of the music that is attenuated from these harp-like instruments is that they make a change while playing, mimicking the way spiders build their web. Thus, it helps in exploring the temporal sequence of the web and its construction in an audible form. This knowledge on spider web mimicking can also help in devising 3D printers built from complex microelectronic circuits. This leads to the acquaintance of printing in the spider’s way. This team of researchers didn’t stop here and also created a virtual reality setup that helped people to audibly and visually enter the spider’s cobweb.

This VR environment was exceptional are there are auditory stimuli to engaged to pick up the structural features of the cobweb. They are easy to recognize, and by hearing the spider web pattern and seeing it at the same time, it becomes easy for us to thoroughly understand the environment where the spider lives in.

Will It Be Possible To Talk To The Spiders?

The researchers from MIT are also exploring the possibilities to communicate with the spiders in their language. They have recorded the vibrations when the spiders build their web and when they communicate with their fellow friend. They used a special machine-learning algorithm to differentiate between cob building frequencies and talking to fellow spiders, as both the vibrations sounded the same to the human ear.

Researchers are on the way to generating synthetic signals that are unique to spiders so that they can be of great help to speak the language of these insects. Researches are also underway to exposing the spiders to certain rhythms and patterns of vibration so that we will be able to access and affect what the spiders do and start communication with them.

Bottom Line

Humans have mastered language, sign language, speaking through eyes, and communicating with animals and birds. Trying to establish communication with insects is by far a great idea, as it will help us befriend these insects, as long as it doesn’t affect their privacy. 

Categories: News