Artificial Spider Silk - finally. Someone let Pete Parker he's obsolete For years, scientists have been trying to either a) milk spiders (not possible, just annoys the spiders) or b) build their own spider silk. Why? Because it's amazingly strong vs it's weight- so it's exciting to hear researchers at the University of Wyoming in Laramie have decoded the genetic formula for spider silk. With the genetic formula, they can even customize the silk to desired flexibility, strength etc. Link takes you to the article on National Geographic.