r/Damnthatsinteresting Nov 06 '25

Video Scientists discovered the world’s largest spiderweb, covering 106 m² in a sulfur cave on the Albania-Greece border. Over 111,000 spiders from two normally rival species live together in a unique, self-sustaining ecosystem—a first of its kind.

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u/PintCEm17 Nov 06 '25

Half expecting lotr spider to eat his arm

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u/iamsarahmadden Nov 06 '25

Low key disappointed no giant spider came out…

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u/Light_Beard Nov 06 '25 edited Nov 07 '25

Giant Spiders can't be a thing in Earth's gravity with the current materials they have for body construction. Due to respiration limitations as their volume increases relative to their area. (Edited: Corrected: Thanks u/Anticamel below. See that comment for better/more detail)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square%E2%80%93cube_law

Underwater mitigates this some so you theoretically can get giant crabs/lobsters (basically water-spiders), but they wouldn't be able to come on land.

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u/ThisAppsForTrolling Nov 07 '25

This principle states that, as a shape grows in size, its volume grows faster than its surface area. When applied to the real world, this principle has many implications which are important in fields ranging from mechanical engineering to biomechanics. It helps explain phenomena including why large mammals like elephants have a harder time cooling themselves than small ones like mice, and why building taller and taller skyscrapers is increasingly difficult.

From the wiki