FOR KIDS: Strong and slimy

Scientists spin the snotlike secretions of hagfish into threads

By Stephen Ornes

Web edition: January 14, 2013

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Scientist Atsuko Negishi holds a hagfish in one hand and its slime in the other. She studies the ooze in the lab of scientist David Fudge, far right.

Credit: Andra Zommers/University of Guelph

Big marine predators that try to snack on a hagfish get a nasty surprise. When threatened, the slender hagfish releases enough snotty goo to gag a shark.

Materials scientists from Douglas Fudge?s laboratory at the University of Guelph have now found a way to create strong, stretchy fibers from the slime. These might one day be used in parachutes, packing materials or even ? if you?re brave enough to wear it ? clothing. The researchers recently?introduced the idea of making fabric from hagfish mucus.

Visit the new?Science News for Kids?website?and read the full story:?Strong and slimy

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Citations

R. Ehrenberg. Repellent slime has material virtues. Science News, Vol.183, January 26, 2013, p. 14. [Go to]

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/347592/title/FOR_KIDS_Strong_and_slimy

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