But it’s actually true!
Although at first glance it might seem like a joke or a social media stunt, the news is legitimate: researchers at Rice University have actually managed to use dead spiders as mechanical grippers.
The trick? They took advantage of the unique hydraulic system that controls the movement of spiders’ legs, “reviving” them – in a mechanical, not biological, sense – with an air pump.
The study was published in Advanced Science and has launched a new field of robotics called necrobotics, which uses biological materials to create devices. Creepy? A little. But fake? Not at all.