Necrobots: Watch Dead Spiders Used as Robotic Grippers - Video

It all started when co-author of the study Daniel Preston and his team noticed a curled-up spider at the edge of the hallway at their lab. Their curiosity to figure out why the eight-legged creatures curl up after they die led them to carry out the new research.

Researchers from Rice University in Texas have turned dead spiders into robotic grippers that pick up small objects, including other spiders.

A video posted on YouTube shows researchers showcasing how they turned a dead spider into mechanical grippers using synthetically induced pressure.

Daniel Preston, co-author of the study, termed this area of engineering as necrobotics and revealed that they carried out their test on wolf spiders, and found that their anatomy is perfect for soft-robotic grippers.

“Despite looking like it might have come back to life, we’re certain that it’s inanimate, and we’re using it in this case strictly as a material derived from a once-living spider. It’s providing us with something really useful,” said Preston.

Faye Yap, a lead author of the study, revealed that they tapped into the hydraulic mechanism of the spiders in which they use their blood pressure to move their limbs and grab onto things. When they die, this pressure acts against the natural flexor muscles that contract the limbs inwards.

Yap also noted that spiders have an internal valve system that allows them to control each limb differently.

“Spiders do not have antagonistic muscle pairs, like biceps and triceps in humans. They only have flexor muscles, which allow their legs to curl in. When they die, they lose the ability to actively pressurize their bodies,” Yap said.

The video on YouTube garnered over a million views within a few days.

One YouTube user wrote, "After seeing this I'd be afraid to see how you guys decorate for Halloween," while another commented, "Spiderman could now have a necrotic version."

"Finally! We're one step closer to full on cyborg spider zombies. Thought we would've had those by now, but better late than never, I guess," wrote a third user.