KOKAND, Uzbekistan (AP) — For one month a year, from morning to night, Dilorom Nishanova grows silkworms, a painstaking and exhausting job. She has been doing it since she was 8. Uzbekistan’s ...

The development and successful testing of a method for unreeling the strands of silk in wild silkworm cocoons could clear the way for establishment of new silk industries not only in Asia but also in ...

Scientists have managed to design microscopic silk capsules that mimic, on a very small scale, the structure of silkworm cocoons. The capsules can serve as a protective environment for the transport ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about entrepreneurship and intriguing startups across the U.S. Greg Altman calls his company, Evolved By Nature, a “green ...

What do a non-stick pan, a raincoat and a medical stent have in common? They all have water-repelling properties that resist water uptake or degradation by hydrolysis. Hydrophobicity, the capacity to ...

When it comes to making strong fibers, scientists like David L. Kaplan say that we still have a lot to learn from the humble silkworm and spider. Kaplan, chairman of the biomedical engineering ...

Wrapping oneself up in a protective cocoon and hibernating the day away is probably an attractive idea for many people. Take your favorite media device with you, and it might even be a great way to ...

In a workshop in the heart of Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley, Nigora Akhonova is seated over a steaming vat of silk cocoons. With measured movements she stirs the pot and pulls out some of the off-white ...

Microscopic versions of the cocoons spun by silkworms have been manufactured by a team of researchers. The tiny capsules, which are invisible to the naked eye, can protect sensitive molecular ...