Arachnophobes often cite spiders’ unpredictable movement as the basis of their fear, pointing out how each spindly leg seems to lift, flex, and probe with a menacing degree of autonomy. Perhaps unsettlingly, research conducted by my colleagues and I has revealed that each one of a spider’s legs does indeed enjoy a certain independence from the brain – especially in the complex task of web-building. Our study has shown that spider legs have “minds of their own,” constructing webs without the oversight of the spider’s brain. This has important implications for the field of robotics, which may take inspiration from…
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