Do you know silk’s secrets?
Silk is a natural protein fibre that can be woven into textile. The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori. Silk owes its shimmering appearance to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles. According to a Chinese legend, the history of silk starts in 2640 BC, in the gardens of the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi. Curious about what was destroying the leaves of his mulberry trees, he sent his wife Xi Ling-shi to the park. She found white bugs on the branches that were weaving shiny, soft cocoons. And as the story goes...