Microphone Spiders everywhere...

[clintrubber]

Not only shockmounts, but now inside the mics as well...

https://phys.org/news/2017-10-spider-silk-power-microphones-aids.html

 

[bluebird]

Pretty amazing. The way nature handles the physics is unbelievable sometimes. We still use the shape of a birds wing to fly.

 

[Seeker]

That is really cool... makes me think about new mic designs we might get to play with in the future!

 

[ramshackles]

I wonder if it could be used in studio mics to selectively cancel out unwanted reflections (given its greater directional sensing).

They coated the silk threads in gold to make them conductive and placed them in a magnetic field....why not just create fine gold threads (perhaps strength/brittleness? Maybe some other conductive material can be spun fine enough?)

 

[fum]

They are describing a ribbon mic, are they not?  ;D

spider silk is about 3 micron (says the google).....

 

[shabtek]

How does an 'element' or an exceedingly thin ribbon have directional Characteristics  independent of  motor/housing/acoustical surrounding? 
Does it say that the silk is more directional?

 

[ramshackles]

How does an 'element' or an exceedingly thin ribbon have directional Characteristics  independent of  motor/housing/acoustical surrounding? 
Does it say that the silk is more directional?

Yup;
"...Their microphone improves the directional sensing across a wide variety of frequencies that are often too quiet for microphones to pick up on..."