Bio-physicist Bob Suter shows how some spiders can move over a water surface.

Boating spiders

Whether you find spiders fearful or fascinating, they are to be admired for their web-spinning and prey-catching techniques, and the remarkable methods they use to move from one place to another. In this album, researchers in Denmark and the United States use an 8-legged robot and a virtual spider, high-speed photography, a hot air balloon and a rowing boat to explore the biophysics of spiders. In the audio track, Dr David Robinson of The Open University explains how advances in technology allow advances in scientific knowledge and understanding. This material forms part of The Open University course S204 Biology: uniformity and diversity.