Our Lab In the Media

TV, Video, Radio & Podcasts

Jul 2022	The successful 12-minute episode on our silk research titled Bulletproof Spider Silk was re-aired in July 2022 on NPR. (Episode Link)
Jul 2022	Our spider silk research was featured on TV! Reporter and news anchor Anthony Sabella from channel 3 WTKR came to the lab to interview Dinidu Perera and Ben Skopic and learn more about our spiders. You can watch the video feature on our blog or the WTKR website!
Mar 2020	10-minute podcast on our silk research titled The Superpowers of Spider Silk.. Aired by the National Nanotechnology Initiative (nano.gov). Online since Mar. 16 on Nano Matters. (Episode Link)
Feb 2019	12-minute radio feature of our silk research titled Bulletproof Spider Silk. Aired Feb. 15 on NPR's show “With Good Reason” hosted by Sarah McConnell. (Episode Link)
Nov 2018	Science Magazine produced a video featuring our recent breakthrough on the nanofibrillar structure of spider silk on Nov. 20. (Link to Video)
May 2017	Slovak National Radio (rtvs), 5-minute radio interview carried out by host Martin Rajec on our latest research on the silk of the recluse spider. Aired on May 13, 2017.
Mar 2017	The U.S. National Science Foundation produces a video feature of our breakthrough on the loops of the brown recluse spider in their Science Now—Science 360 show (Episode 50).
Feb 2017	Discovery Channel Canada] airs a TV feature of our brown recluse looped silk discovery in their science show Daily Planet (7:00 pm show on February 15, 2017).
Feb 2017	The Daily Press has a video feature on our silk research.
Feb 2017	BBC radio interview: On Feb. 20, the BBC aired a 5-minute radio interview with Prof. Schniepp on the group's recent breakthough on the looped recluse silk. Now available here (The Naked Scientists).
Feb 2017	ABC Australia radio interview: On Feb. 24, the BBC interview was also aired on the other side of the world. Now available here (The Naked Scientists).
Feb 2017	The Naked Scientists, a British science podcast, features Prof. Schniepp's BBC interview on their web page, including a written story and images: link.
Sep 2015	Video Interview: The Daily Press talks to Prof. Schniepp on the group's latest research on silkworm silk.
Mar 2014	Discovery Channel Canada airs a TV feature of our brown recluse silk project in their science show Daily Planet (7:00 pm show on March 10, 2014).
Mar 2014	William & Mary produces the 4-minute video story "In the lab: 'Milking' brown recluse spiders for silk" about our work on brown recluse spider silk.
Oct 2013	Daily Press Video Interview: Interview with Prof. Schniepp about our research on the recluse spider silk. This is goes along with their long article, accompanied with pictures.

In Print Media

Aug 2022	Ben Swenson from the Daily Press wrote a fantastic newspaper article featuring our recent Nature Communications paper. You can view a PDF of the article Here.
Jun 2019	Falter (weekly newspaper in Austria) "Warum wir die Braune Einsiedlerspinne melken". , Total circulation: 271,000.
May 2019	“Supermicroscope reveals the secret of the spider” — feature Science Illustrated, magazine 5/2019. Print edition published in Australia, Thailand, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, The Netherlands, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia. Total circulation 400,000.
Jun 2018	The Daily Press (Hampton Roads newspaper), front page, "W&M grad student devises cheap, effective way to study 'wonder material' of future"
Feb 2017	The Daily Press (Hampton Roads newspaper), front page, "Recluse spider silk could hold the key to space-age materials"
Sep 2015	“A New Spin on Silk's Strength”. Cover Story in the Daily Press featuring our recently published research on shear-induced self-assembly of molecularly thin silk fibrils.
Dec 2013	Advanced Materials features our brown recluse silk paper out of all communications of the Dec 23 issue with a full-page frontispiece.
Oct 2013	Chemical & Engineering News feature: C & E News features our paper on the recluse spider silk in their October 28 issue.
Oct 2013	Virginia Gazette brown recluse feature: Our research on the silk of the brown recluse spider is featured with a story and photos in their October 19 issue.
Oct 2013	The Daily Press, Hampton Roads' big newspaper, prominently features our research on the recluse spider silk with a long online article, accompanied with pictures and a video interview. In the print edition, our story “Spider Study Untangles the Web” had a large title page feature in the Oct 15 issue.
Oct 2013	The WIRED magazine highlights our research on the silk of the brown recluse spider with an exciting article: “Brown Recluse Spider’s Silk Is Strong and Really Strange.”
May 2012	"Lighter, Stronger, Better" — our research on graphene-based high-performance polymer nanocomposites is featured in the ideation magazine.
Mar 2012	"Making spider-sense" — our ground breaking discoveries on the silk protein are featured in the ideation magazine.
Oct 2006	Nature Materials Feature: Self-Healing Hannes Schniepp's AFM work studying the molecular-scale self-assembly of detergent molecules at millisecond time scales got prominently highlighted.

Online Media

Jul 2022	Beautiful story in W&M News featuring our brand new Nature Communications paper on the molecularstructure of spider silk!
Jul 2022	Channel 3 WTKR wrote the story, "This spider's bite is dangerous, but local scientists say studying its steely silk could save lives" associated with the video interview.
Jul 2022	We are now on social media! Please follow our new nano & biomaterials lab Lab Twitter page @SchnieppLab for research updates from our team!
May 2022	Follow our new nano & biomaterials lab Lab LinkeIn page for updates of our research team!
Nov 2018	Danmarks Radio's Pernille Kjeldgaard Kristensen writes the online story “Edderkoppespind er stærkt som stål: Nu ved vi hvorfor” (Dec 2, 2018). Link.
Nov 2018	Discussion of the recent ACS Macro Letters paper reaches #1 on the engineering subreddit for two days receiving over 32,000 upvotes and 800 comments. (Link to thread)
Nov 2018	Smithsonian Magazine's Jason Daley writes “Brown Recluse Silk Is Stronger Than Steel Because It’s Constructed Like a Cable” (Nov 21, 2018). Link.
Feb 2017	Chemistry World (The Royal Society of Chemistry), "Spider silk strength is in the loop"
Feb 2017	Oxford News (University of Oxford), "Deadly spider’s spinning technique could inspire tougher materials"
Feb 2017	Inside Science (American Institute of Physics), "Loops Give Extra Toughness to Recluse Spider Silk"
Feb 2017	Seeker, Venomous brown recluse spiders produce incredibly strong web silk that could be copied for multiple uses, including snagging space junk: "Deadly Spider Sews Industrial-Strength Silk Strands"
Feb 2017	W&M News, "The brown recluse spider engineers extra-strong silk by spinning loops onto a flat strand"
Sep 2016	William & Mary features our Lab in a news story about the new ISC building. Our highly vibration-sensitive work on atomic force microscopy is highlighted.
Oct 2015	Our research on the silk of the brown recluse spider is highlighted by the ideation magazine article: "Unraveling the secret of silk that's more alive than dead".

Miscellaneous

Feb 2011

Laura Rickard from our research group was selected to present our on work implant materials to members of the VA General Assembly and government representatives.

Our Press Releases

From Prof. Schniepp's Work at Previous Institutions

6 Aug 2009	"Bringing Graphene to Market", by Katherine Bourzac MIT Technology Review. The work features Prof. Schniepp's AFM work on graphene.
2 Mar 2009	C&EN, Chemical and Engineering News (ACS) features Prof. Schniepp's AFM work on functionalized graphene sheets in a review article about graphene
10 Jun 2009	"Alum's startup company bets on Princeton research", by Brett Tomlinson Princeton Alumni Weekly.
15 May 2007	"Vorbeck says it can produce graphene cheaply and abundantly", EQuad News Blog.
1 May 2007	"Nanocomposites", a Feature Article in Plastics Technology by Lilli Manolis Sherman, Senior Editor.
6 Oct 2006	"Speedy self-healing–The secrets of micellar coating dynamics revealed by AFM", News and Views feature by Vicki Cleave in Nature Materials (October 2006 issue).
2006	"From Quonset huts to ballerinas–Princeton scientists solve a nanotech mystery", Equad News (Spring/Summer 2006).
2005	H. C. Shum and H. C. Schniepp, "Golden Surfactants", participation in the Art of Science competition at Princeton University. The contribution was selected to be part of a one-year art exhibition at Princeton University (2005).
2003	H. C. Schniepp, “Exploring nuclear membranes at the nanometer scale”, self-produced, 5-minute video documentation, presented as selected project at the Nanofair (www.nanofair.ch) exhibition by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), St. Gallen, Switzerland (2003).