‘Shut it down now!’ University touts successful spider ‘grabber’ experiment, sends Twitter into tailspin

Arachnophobes beware, science’s latest breakthrough may be more than you can take.

Engineers at Rice University in Texas have learned how to manipulate the legs of dead spiders in order to, effectively, turn them into grabbers.

The crew discovered that puffs of air injected into the carcass of the spider can be used to control the open/close function of the legs, and if closed around an object close to or slightly larger than the size of the arachnid, the body can pick it up.

While the area of research called “necrobiotics” may be a huge leap forward for science, it’s an equally huge “nope” for many:

Sierra Marlee

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