Scientists train spider to jump on demand
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It’s an arachnophobe’s nightmare: scientists have trained a species of predatory spider to leap on demand. They used 3D CT scanning and high-speed, high-resolution cameras to record the acrobatic arachnid in a bid to better understand how they catch their prey and potentially inspire a new class of agile micro-robot. The team from the University of Manchester trained a species of jumping spider known as Phidippus regius, or the ‘regal jumping spider’, which they nicknamed ‘Kim’. About the size of a human fingernail with a bite relatively harmless to humans, the species is common to the West Indies and United States, with the largest populations in Florida.