Coffee lovers, prepare to have your minds blown.
While most of us can’t function without our morning cup of joe, it turns out that spiders definitely should NOT be hitting up Starbucks anytime soon.
Back in 1995, NASA researchers at Marshall Space Flight Center conducted a fascinating experiment that might make you think twice about your caffeine habit.
They decided to see what happens when spiders get buzzed on various substances — including our beloved caffeine.
The researchers exposed spiders to different chemicals and carefully observed how their web-spinning abilities were affected.
And let’s just say, the results were not exactly Instagram-worthy.
Spider Webs: Nature’s Architecture Gone Wrong
Normally, spiders are nature’s master architects.
They produce silk from specialized glands and use special organs called spinnerets to create different types of thread for different parts of their webs.
It’s precise, calculated, and honestly kind of impressive.
But throw some caffeine into the mix, and things go haywire.
According to the NASA study, the more deformed the web looks compared to a normal one, the more toxic the substance is to the spider.
“It appears that one of the most telling measures of toxicity is a decrease, in comparison with a normal web, of the numbers of completed sides in the cells: the greater the toxicity, the more sides the spider fails to complete,” the NASA article explained.
The Caffeine Effect Is Real
If you’re curious about just how bad the caffeine-influenced webs looked, you can check out the full graphic from the original study and compare for yourself.
Let’s just say the caffeine-fueled spiders weren’t winning any web-building competitions.
The researchers didn’t just stop at caffeine, either.
They also tested marijuana and Benzedrine (a type of amphetamine), with each substance creating its own unique pattern of web dysfunction.
It’s like a bizarre art gallery of intoxicated arachnid architecture.
But Wait, Is Coffee Bad For Humans Too?
Before you pour your beloved coffee down the drain, there’s good news for us humans!
The study doesn’t necessarily mean caffeine is bad for our brains.
In fact, recent research points in the opposite direction.
Earlier findings suggest that drinking at least two cups of coffee daily could actually decrease the risk of death from some serious health concerns, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
So while your spider roommates should probably stay away from your morning brew, you can continue enjoying your daily caffeine fix with potentially some health benefits to boot.
Still, next time you’re feeling jittery after that third cup of coffee, maybe spare a thought for those poor, confused spiders trying to build webs while buzzed.
We might function on caffeine, but clearly, our eight-legged friends were not designed for the coffee life.
Editor’s Note: This article uses information from a 1995 issue of NASA Tech Briefs discussing research conducted at Marshall Space Flight Center on the effects of various substances on spider web patterns.