1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,799 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: this is our trilogy of slime. Uh. This episode is 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: a trilogy of slime. But then also this uh, this 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: episode is kicking off a series of three different episodes 7 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: that deal with slime in the world. Generally biologically speaking, 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: it's uh, we're gonna be knee deep in slime and 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: so are you guys at yeah, elbow in it. Ha 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: ha ha. And it's gonna be awesome because this episode 11 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:47,639 Speaker 1: we will talk more about uh, snails, a couple other 12 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: critters out there in the world in their use of slime. 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: But we will we will eventually get into slugs, slugs, sex, 14 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: and whether or not slime can I actually have a 15 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: sort of memory. But of course we're talking to the 16 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: second and third episodes right now. We need to talk 17 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: about the slime of nature. Yes, now, slime, just just 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: in a general sinse slime is is pretty awesome. Having 19 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: been a young boy and still having a bit of 20 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: a young boy inside my mind. Um, I just I 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,759 Speaker 1: have a lot of fun memories about slimy things. Um, 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,759 Speaker 1: watch it watching on television watching various slimy stunts. Remember Nickelodeon, 23 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: of course those guys dropping slime and people And apparently 24 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: this is a big tradition in British television since like 25 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: the seventies or even the sixties of using some sort 26 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: of stunt where someone gets dunked in slime. Well, and 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: of course there was actual slime itself that you could 28 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: make and play with, which is a big deal, right. 29 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of people have done actually in 30 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: their science classes. Yeah. Or my mom is a kindergarten 31 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: teacher and um, every year they do this thing where 32 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: they make the ublic, which is a type of slime substance. Um, 33 00:01:57,880 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: and the recipe is in the back of a Doctor 34 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: SEUs book called Dublic. So yeah, I mean kids, kids 35 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: love slime. I also remember the Masters of the Universe 36 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: action figures. They had something called the slime Pit. I 37 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: don't know, did you Your brother might have had this 38 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: back and I don't think you had the slime pit. Well, 39 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: the slime pit was gross and most I think there 40 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: are a lot of parents that refused to buy it. 41 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: My ensure did um, But on TV it looked great 42 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: because it was like this little you know, little con 43 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: construction was a little set for your your master's universe 44 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: heman figures and whatnot. And the evil Hordac would Hordac 45 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 1: he was he would lock he man or whoever into 46 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: the slime pit and then you would dunk slime on them, 47 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: and it was, you know, like, well, they're so gross 48 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 1: and disgusting now and they're covered with slime, and so 49 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,239 Speaker 1: parents tended not to buy that. And of course, you 50 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: know this is uh, this sort of slime thing we 51 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: see later on in films like Alien right, this is 52 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: used to Yeah, I mean, this is this this is 53 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 1: a great thing to try to get people to be 54 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: completely repulsed. Yeah. An interesting fact that I learned when 55 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: I was writing the Xenomorp article for how stuff works. 56 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: When they were filming Alien, they had to like, yeah, 57 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: they had to coat the creature and all this google 58 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: for every shot, but that would wear the paint op. 59 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: So hr Geeger was having to repaint uh, that Alien 60 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: suit every evening or every morning before they before the 61 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: shoot so that they wouldn't so that it would look right. 62 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: You know, that would be such a cool job to 63 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: be the slime artist on that set. Seriously, you'd have 64 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: to make vats of it and have to be the 65 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,919 Speaker 1: right kind of viscosity. Yeah, it would be pretty good stuff. 66 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: And there are a lot of a lot of slime 67 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: monsters out there to get excited about. You sent me 68 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: a list stuff from High nine yesterday, just a whole lot, 69 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: and I was going through that and some of them 70 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: I was, you know, well familiar with some not um 71 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: some of my favorites though. Of course the Blob. Everyone 72 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: loves the Blob. I didn't monster the Week article about 73 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: the Blob talking about the possible science of the giant Amba. 74 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: This is the fifties the Blob. Yeah, the nineties remake 75 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: is really fun to people often overlook it. But but 76 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: but but it's it's nice. It's nice that blob has 77 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: really high hair. Well, that blob it's a different type 78 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: of blog. It's a kind of a fast moving blob 79 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: and uh and but there's some nice nineteen eighties gore 80 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: effects in there. I just want to imagine it with 81 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: really big blonde hair spiked up. Yeah, there's a lot 82 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: of that going on. Um. The Gelatinous Cube was a 83 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: favorite of mine from Dungeons and dragons. This was a 84 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: big cube of clear blob jelly, and it would it 85 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,919 Speaker 1: would live in dungeon hallways, and so you'd be running 86 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: around through the dungeon and you wouldn't see it because 87 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: it looks clear, and then you go straight into it 88 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: and then it dissolves you down to bones and armor 89 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: inside it. I love it. Yeah, so that's a fun one. 90 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,840 Speaker 1: You had yet Ectoplasm and Ghostbusters too. There was a 91 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: lot of slime the effects there. You Hat Slimer and 92 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 1: Ghostbusters one of course. Um Stephen King short stories. You 93 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: had both the Raft and Gray Matter, both blob inspired tales. 94 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: Um On Star Trek the Next Generation you had this 95 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: one character called Armus who looks like this black, oily 96 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: slime monster the ends up eating the blonde lady of course. Yeah. 97 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: So I mean there's just a list that you can 98 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: find whole lists of slime monsters on the on the internet. 99 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: They're all great. I mean there are movies like The 100 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: Green Slime and you could go on and on. Yeah, 101 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: and uh, you know, we are going to talk about 102 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: this glorious go this slime and its role in nature. 103 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: So we're gonna look at snails, the hagfish, and the 104 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: African linkfish. But no zen no zeno morphs. Yeah, unfortunately. Uh, 105 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: but slugs I think can take the place of xenomorphs 106 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: pretty well. Yeah, slugs are slugs are gross. I I'm 107 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: I'm gonna try and mask over this in the a 108 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: little bit, probably will fail in the slug sex episode. 109 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: But slugs of I've always found repulsive. And it's not 110 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: really the slime per se. The slime is a part 111 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: of it, I'm sure, but it's kind of a small part. 112 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: There's just a lot going on. It's repulsive about them. 113 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: They're just like they're big and they're bloated and and 114 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: it's not like like a little snail with a little 115 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: shell that doesn't really affect me, like that's cute. I 116 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 1: I actually will go to pains not to step on 117 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: a on a snail. Really. Yeah. If I show you 118 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: this picture, I wonder how you'll feel about that. Now. 119 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: But well, those are on a person's face. Okay. What 120 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: I have is about maybe eight of these snails which 121 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: are related to slugs, we now, um, and they are 122 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: on this man's face cringing in pain. I well, I 123 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,839 Speaker 1: think he's faking the pain. It looks more like repulsion 124 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: if anything. But I don't know. I think they're doing 125 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: something to his nostril air. Well yeah, okay, so I 126 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: don't really like that at all, but I just wanted 127 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: to see your level of sensitivity. But if they were 128 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: just on on on the you know, in some rocks 129 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: outside of a house on a rainy day, I would 130 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: I would just let it go. Well, I will tell 131 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: you that I love these guys. They're juicy, is squishy, 132 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: and they leave a trail. They're they're beautifully disgusting creatures, 133 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: and we're going to get into the merits of these creatures. Well, 134 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: I do respect the slug in the snail. I mean, 135 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: gastropods are amazing. And one of the things that about slime, 136 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: and one one of the things we really want to 137 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: bring out about slime in this episode is that it 138 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: is such a fantastic organic substance and there's so many 139 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: uses for it and it's used for so many things 140 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: that even if even as if you're into it in 141 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: this kind of like eight year old slime is awesome 142 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: kind of way, you're really only getting this one dimensional 143 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: idea of what slime is and what it what it 144 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: what it can and is used for. Yeah, it is 145 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: amazing stuff. Let's talk about slugs though. Let's talk about 146 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: their appearance, their anatomy. They are smooth and uniform and 147 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: appearance essentially snails without the albatross of a shell. Yeah, 148 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: they dropped that in their evolutionary history. They dropped that. 149 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: And we'll talk a little bit more about that though, 150 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: because that has definitely informed the placement of certain things 151 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: on their anatomy. Uh. They get through get around through 152 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: hydrostatic pulses of their tube like bodies as well as 153 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: the slime that helps them locomote. Yeah, they have that foot, yes, Yeah, 154 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: They've got a little gastropod foot and they sense the 155 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: world using two sets of tentacles or feelers on their heads, 156 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: so one set detect light and dark. All right, let's 157 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: talk about the slime that they have. This this slime 158 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: that they they put out, it's it's it's really fascinating 159 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 1: just just from a chemical standpoint. I was reading this article, um. 160 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: It was talking about the work of u W bioengineering 161 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: professor's pedro Verdugo and Christopher Vinny, and they were working 162 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: with the zoology professor Ingrith dere Olsen and this was 163 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: this is from But they were looking at the way 164 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: slugs use it for for protection, for for locomotion, all 165 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: these methods that we're talking about and the but they 166 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: were interested in what it was like at a molecular level. 167 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: And previously h researchers thought that slug sign was more 168 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: like a bowl of spaghetti, just lets of tangled strands 169 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: of goo, like somebody blowing their nose continuously into a bowl. 170 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: Kind of I know this disgusting, but we're talking about slimes, 171 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: so just imagine that that was kind of like the 172 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: idea on a on a smaller level. And the more 173 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 1: the more strands, the more tangled, the more mucus is 174 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:07,079 Speaker 1: what they thought. But in these guys show that slug 175 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: mucus is not random. It is a highly organized polymetric material. 176 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: And when secreted, the polymer absorbs water rapidly up to 177 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: a hundred times it's initial volume, So it's kind of 178 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 1: like a you know, just add water kind of a situation. 179 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: In fact, this slime is packed in and as granules 180 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: inside the body. Uh there's dry mucus in granules, Yeah, 181 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: like granules of mucus. And then when they pump it out, 182 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: then it activates and then it touches water, and then 183 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,839 Speaker 1: it grows into the slime substance. Okay, so this is 184 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: why slugs don't soak up too much water and explode 185 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,599 Speaker 1: when they crawl across water, because they can control that 186 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: action of the granules meeting the water and then expanding. Yeah. 187 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:48,599 Speaker 1: One of the things that I found useful in just 188 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: thinking about slime is to not not to think of 189 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,199 Speaker 1: it merely as something that is excreted, that is, that 190 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: is external to the creature though, I mean, of course 191 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: it is, but but to really think of it as 192 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,959 Speaker 1: the outer layer of that creature's body. It's really a 193 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 1: part of it. I mean, it's and we're going to 194 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,679 Speaker 1: get into all the various uses for it as we 195 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: continue here, but the slime is essentially a part of 196 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: the creature. Well right, it's just another layer of skin, 197 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: so to speak, or you know. Yeah. Um, so here 198 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: this is really important though, um this secretion because obviously 199 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,439 Speaker 1: they do this for various reasons. But if you were 200 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: to pick up a slug and it would feel threatened, 201 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: that it would produce a lot of the goo, a 202 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: lot of this mucus, and and that's what you get. 203 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,559 Speaker 1: You should get a fistful of slime. If you're picking 204 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: going around picking up slugs, what's the matter with you? Now, 205 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,199 Speaker 1: Some listeners may have done this before and discovered that 206 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:43,079 Speaker 1: if they picked it up and they went to go 207 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: wash their hands afterwards, what would happen. Well, when they 208 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: tried to get that goo off of their hands, the 209 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: slime would actually double in volume or triple because again, 210 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: you've got that water and it's it's just gonna make 211 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: matters worse. You're trying to wash your hands off, and 212 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: the best thing to do is actually not even get 213 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: to the water first. Just getta dry towel, wipe it 214 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: off as much as possible, and then wash your hands. Yeah, 215 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: but I mean he's picking these things up. I mean 216 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: the cool thing about that is it shows you the 217 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: incredible adhesive properties that it has. Right hands, it's just 218 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,199 Speaker 1: incredibly hard to get off. But it gives you a 219 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: big clue as to um how they get around, how 220 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: they navigate with this. Well. Yeah, and it also shows 221 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: it gives you a little insight into how versatile slime 222 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: is because on one hand, it's used for locomotion, it's 223 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: used about reduce it's about reducing friction so that I 224 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: mean basically, the slime the slug or snail is creating 225 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 1: a little road for itself that it can travel um 226 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: and in the road that other snails may encounter, and 227 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: they're able to tell where and when the last slug 228 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: or snail was on that trail, like it's a There's 229 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: also a lot of communication going on here, which we'll 230 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: get into. But yeah, let's talk a little bit more 231 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,199 Speaker 1: about how get around here. Because slugs have no articulate 232 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,959 Speaker 1: skeletal systems, so they have to crawl, and they do 233 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: this by using complex muscle movements, especially a broad muscular 234 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: organ at the base of the snails body known as 235 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: the foot, as you said, and these actions are then 236 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: aided by the slime that the slug secrete. So as 237 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: you have said, um, it does double duty. It can 238 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 1: reduce friction between the snails body and the ground to 239 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 1: let them glide along, but together with the sucking action 240 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: of the foot soul, it can help the snail stick 241 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: to a surface. So we're talking about the edge of 242 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: a knife here. Yeah, yeah, I mean, if you can 243 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,719 Speaker 1: find videos are the famously slugs can crawl over the 244 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: blade of a razor in their unscathed. Uh slug snails 245 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: with large shells can climb up trees carrying this heavyweight 246 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: with them in Its no big deal because it's because 247 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: of the versatility of the slime. And like I mentioned, 248 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,719 Speaker 1: UH the second ago, slugs used slime to communicate with 249 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: each other. With each other UM, a slun slugs trail 250 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: will contain various important important directional information allows a second 251 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: slug to fall. Of a slug is in the mood 252 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 1: to mate, that will be a signal inside of the 253 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: slime that it's secreting. So this kind of a mood 254 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: slime going on as well. When a when a slug 255 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: is putting out some slime in a way it is uh, 256 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: it's writing a poem, it's sending out a missive to 257 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: the rest of the gastropod world to interpret. And we 258 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: will talk in the next podcast about that courtship dance, 259 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,200 Speaker 1: which is so incredibly bizarre and beautiful and discussing at 260 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,199 Speaker 1: the same time. Now, another thing you mentioned about the 261 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,839 Speaker 1: picking up a slug and about when they're threatened, that's 262 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: another thing that's another example of mood slime. UM. Many 263 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: snails can foam when they encounter a predator or if 264 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: they touch something that is repulsive, which I guess is 265 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: kind of ironic, but don't encounter substance that they don't dig. 266 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: And when they do, they just whip out the slime. 267 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: Because again, this is like you know people when someone 268 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: says something, you know, kind of mean to somebody and 269 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: they get hurt, they say, why don't you grow some skin, 270 00:13:57,960 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: Grow some thick skins so you can deal with that. Well, 271 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: that's kind of what this the slug or the snail 272 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,679 Speaker 1: is doing here counter something it doesn't like. It grows 273 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: that skin, It grows that layer of slime that that 274 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: distances itself from the potential dangers of the world. Can 275 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: also be distasteful or toxic um in content, so that 276 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: if a bird wants to peck at it, it will 277 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: soon discover that this is not something it wants to eat. 278 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: So that's a good way that it can avoid predators. Um, 279 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: it can use it slimes a repelling cord to lower 280 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: itself down on the ground from plants. Again, that's stickiness 281 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: and the durability of the slime. And this is all 282 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: just just one reason why scientists continue to be very 283 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: interested in the biomometic possibilities for slime looking at it 284 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: and saying, what is there about um about the gastropod 285 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: use of slime that we can learn from and then 286 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: we can use in our products and our technologies. So 287 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: you're talking about possibilities and drug delivery systems, pollutant traps 288 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: for sewage treatment plants, water based lubricants, chemical information storage. 289 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:57,720 Speaker 1: I mean, the list goes on and on, Yeah, because 290 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: it really is amazing how the slime organizes itself and 291 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 1: helps the slug out here just how versatile was it? Well, 292 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: you actually have bubble rafting snails, and this is pretty 293 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: pretty amazing. These are These are all aquatic snails and 294 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: they what they do is they secrete this the mucus 295 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: from their their foot and then they they use this 296 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: to create this um, this kind of float that they 297 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: they then live under for the rest of their lives. 298 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: So it's like a raft, like barnacles stuck to it. Yeah, 299 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: a little raft that they live underneath. And you know, 300 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: actually this reminds me a bet of the Stephen King story, 301 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: the raft in which you had a wooden raft and 302 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: there are these teenagers stuck on top of it and 303 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: there is grotesque oily blob monster underneath trying to eat them. 304 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: You see how all roads lead to Stephen King just 305 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: about I mean, he wrote a lot of stuff, so 306 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: you know, anything that entered his head. Uh, there's a 307 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: good chance that exited as a short story or a 308 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: gigantic novel. Um. But but this particular use of the 309 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: mucus is really interested because they mucus has bubbles in it, 310 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: so that's why it's floating and it serves as this 311 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: uh thing that they're anchored to for the rest of 312 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: their life. It's really interesting too when you start looking 313 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: at why they do this, how they evolved to do this, 314 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: and the general idea is that uh ancestors of these 315 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: uh bubble rafting snails were using their their hardened slime 316 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: to anchor eggs on the bottom of the of the 317 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: body of water that they're in. Uh, and this practice 318 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: eventually evolved into the use of adding air bubbles to 319 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: it and using it as this floatation device that they 320 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: depend on. Yeah, that's really cool. And that's that again 321 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: at the adhesive property and the ability to have some 322 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: sort of flexible movement to that A lot of researchers 323 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: are interested in when it comes to healing bones, for instance, 324 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: they're trying to figure out how slime and its ability 325 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: to harden at times um but also locomote could help 326 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: bones better heal. So they're all sorts of really cool things. 327 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: The other thing I was thinking about is that it 328 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 1: always comes down to reproductive fitness. So if you see this, uh, 329 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: this raft configuration, this gloming on, it's because you know, 330 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: the survival of that egg is important to the species. 331 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: And we'll talk more about this in the slug Sex podcast. 332 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: But it really when you look at the reasons for 333 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 1: a lot of things in nature, it's very interesting to 334 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: see how everything's were evolved from around that basic reason. Now, 335 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: I was really in researching slugs and snales. I was 336 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: really horrified, slash amazed by how successful they are um it, 337 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: particularly in areas where they're invasive of course, and they're 338 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: invasive a lot of like a lot of the sales 339 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: of slugs we up here in North America were introduced. 340 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: I'm sure anyone who had who belongs to say a 341 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: c S A Communities supported Agriculture group has wound up 342 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: with slugs in the kitchen before I have. I see 343 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 1: this is what it's all coming down to. You had 344 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 1: a really bad experience with the slug. Well, this was 345 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: like a couple of months ago. I mean, I don't 346 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: know when I had quote unquote bad experiences of slugs. 347 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,080 Speaker 1: I remember seeing big slugs when as a kid that 348 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: none of them ever attacked me or anything. But but 349 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 1: they'll show up, like occasionally they'll hit a ride on 350 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: some produce and then they're in your sink and you 351 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: have that moment where you think your your house is 352 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: being invaded by slugs. And some people's houses are invaded 353 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: by slugs and it's disgusting. But who's whose house is 354 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: invaded by I I hear things about people who are like, yes, 355 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: slugs crawling in my house at night here and Georgia, Yeah, 356 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 1: I think so. Yeah, But um, because they can go 357 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: under the door and stuff. It's I mean, they're they're 358 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: they're they're squashy, they're squishy, they can they can squeeze. 359 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,159 Speaker 1: But anyway, my point being is that they're they're tremendously 360 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: great at chomping down produce. They can be quite a pest. 361 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,359 Speaker 1: I was reading in this book by Charles C. Man 362 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: and this is about Columbus's discovery of the New World 363 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: and the biological ramifications of that. But he includes a 364 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,919 Speaker 1: couple of accounts in there about attempts to introduce golden 365 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: apple snails from Brazil to Taiwan and then also to 366 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: the Philippines uh in a in an attempt to create 367 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 1: a caviar business. Both of these failed. H partially look 368 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: at the Taiwan example because the Taiwanese really weren't into 369 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,679 Speaker 1: the idea of eating cave are. But then you end 370 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: up with these uh with these apple snails just out 371 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: and about and they're just eating everything. They're eating the 372 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: eggs of other creatures, they're eating rice plants. So these 373 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: things can be quite the pest when they get out 374 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,640 Speaker 1: of control. In fact, one statum I ran across said 375 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: that wherever and this is from the University of Florida 376 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: or Florida if you will, um, they said that whenever 377 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: the plant damage done by snails and slugs is easily observable, 378 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: it has been determined that the live weight of the 379 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: slugs infesting the area maybe around seventy pounds per acre. 380 00:19:54,280 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: Seventy pounds of slugs. Just imagine it like I've picture 381 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: like congealing in the form of like a human. Just 382 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 1: all slug it's but um, but it's an amazing creature 383 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: and it's amazingly successful creatures. So there you go. This 384 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: is this is what I like to think about um 385 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 1: slugs in your beauty products. And this cracked me up 386 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: because in two thousands six Chilean farmers reportedly noticed, and 387 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: this sounds like an oil of a leg commercial, they 388 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: reportedly noticed visibly smoother skin after handling snails they were 389 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: breeding for the French food market. Of course. Yeah, and 390 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 1: this apparently falls in with some very old ideas of Hippocrates. 391 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: Of course, he reportedly prescribed a mixture of sour milk 392 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:45,560 Speaker 1: and crushed snails for skin inflammations. So it's it's we've 393 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 1: known for a while that there's something in the slime 394 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,479 Speaker 1: that that can help us, that can be beneficial. Well, 395 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: it's packed with glycolic acid, any lasting a snail secretion 396 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 1: protects its own skin from cuts, bacteria, and powerful UV rays, 397 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: making Mother Nature's venus a primes worst for proteins that 398 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: eliminate dead cells and regenerate skin. So I just read 399 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: that off a bottle of beauty product. I didn't, But 400 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: doesn't it. I mean it's yeah, Well, when you're thing, 401 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: when you're buying that booty beauty product. You think you're like, oh, 402 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: I'm getting this elegant man made ointment to rub on 403 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: on my skin and then I'm better off. But know 404 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 1: what you're really doing is you're stealing a snail or 405 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: slugs self defense system. You're you're you're cooping there um 406 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: their self defense system, and it's it's it's interesting to 407 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 1: think of it that way. For smith skin, it just 408 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 1: reminds me of like an absolutely fabulous UH episode. Did 409 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,400 Speaker 1: you ever watch that? Um? I think it self? Parts 410 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: of it I remember being on. I can just imagine 411 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 1: Adina like flying down to Chile and noticing that the 412 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: locals have fabulous skin and then starting to put slugs 413 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: all over her face. UM, no doubt there's some sort 414 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: of cosmetics VP out there that has done that. All Right, 415 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break and when we get back, 416 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: we are going to talk about slime hagfish and UH 417 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: some of the defenses that these creatures have, including a 418 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: stuffing mouthful of slime Gaggy their nemesis. All Right, we're back. 419 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,880 Speaker 1: So first off, we're gonna talk about the hag fish, 420 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: which is a and arguably a repulsive creature, has no 421 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: job bones, has no backbone. Um. If you've ever seen 422 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,479 Speaker 1: I believe it was David eden Burrough's Life, I think 423 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: it was that that had some fantastic scenes of these 424 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: creatures feeding, among other creatures, feeding on a dead whale 425 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: on the ocean floor. Uh, and they'll there, that's what 426 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: they do. They like to eat decaying animal matter in 427 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: the ocean. They'll just bore in to it and then 428 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,400 Speaker 1: eat their way back out of the corpse. Yeah, they're 429 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: mostly like the vultures of the sea. They do some hunting, 430 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 1: but they're they're basically scavengers and they're an eel like 431 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 1: looking fish. Yeah, blind and that essentially if you've seen 432 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: the movie Tremmors, those things that come out of the tremors, 433 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: the the graboids, Now those are are essentially hagfish. But 434 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: these guys have been swimming in the oceans for three 435 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: million years and there are seventy seven species all over 436 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: the world. Um, this is cool. It's got a plate 437 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: of cartilage studded with two rows of teeth, which it 438 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:37,439 Speaker 1: uses to burrow down into the dead carcasses. Um. It's 439 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,199 Speaker 1: only predators are either very large fish whose gills are 440 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: too big, clog or mammals which obviously don't have gills 441 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: and whose stomachs can easily digest or expel the slime. 442 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: So it's out there and it's proliferating. Yeah, I mean 443 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:53,439 Speaker 1: in the slime is key because what it'll do, if 444 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,160 Speaker 1: you like, I've seen some footage of fishermen pulling them out, 445 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 1: and when they pull them out, they tie into these 446 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: knots they kind of not their body and then start 447 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,959 Speaker 1: excreting the slime. And uh, it creates quite a lot 448 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: of slime, like clear crisco looking stuff, even when they're 449 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 1: out of the water. But when they're in the water, 450 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: of course, as we discussed earlier, what what does what 451 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 1: does slime do? When it encounters more water, it becomes 452 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: thicker and thicker, and there's more and more of it. 453 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: So something tries to eat a hagfish, say a shark, 454 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: it pumps out the slime, and the slime is thick 455 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: and and and this viscus and shark suddenly has not 456 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:33,400 Speaker 1: only a mouthful of hagfish, but a mouthful of choking slime. Yeah, 457 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: it oozes from hundreds of pores that line their bodies, 458 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: and the slime consists of large mucus proteins called muisans 459 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: linked together by longer protein threads. So when it mixes 460 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: with the seawaters, you say, it massively expands, becoming almost 461 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: a thousand times more dilute than other animal mucus. Yeah, 462 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 1: so it kind of leaves the slugs in the dust 463 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: there when it comes to its production of mucus. Yeah. 464 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: Imagine if humans had disability and someone starts messing with you, 465 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: say they grab your arm on the trend, and then 466 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: you just extrete out some slime and then that they 467 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 1: can't even get a handle on you. I would go 468 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: for that. Would you then feel less sort of disgusted 469 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: by slugs if you had the ability to spine your tick? 470 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: I don't know. I was thinking about that earlier today, 471 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: Like what if humans were slime creatures? And what if 472 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: we left trails everywhere we went? What if I don't know, 473 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:20,680 Speaker 1: I guess you know I'd be cool with it? Then 474 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: what choice would I have? Right exactly? You'd embrace it? 475 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I'm kind of grossed out 476 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,840 Speaker 1: by some of the things humans do just biologically, so 477 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: maybe I wouldn't be cool with it. You could be 478 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,360 Speaker 1: that lone human covered in slime in the corner. Well, 479 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: I would probably be the one that's trying to groom 480 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:37,920 Speaker 1: himself free of slime, and then I would have like 481 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 1: horrible slug skin. You'd have like little rashes on your 482 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: skin when you try to lick it off or actually 483 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: just get it off with the dry towel. As we know. 484 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: All right, So here's the cool thing about these tag 485 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: fish is that um, they're hanging out in the ocean. 486 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: They're chomping on a fish carcass. All of a sudden, 487 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,920 Speaker 1: short comes up fights it. What happens, Well, it's pump 488 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: not the slime, right, yes, to the point that there's 489 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: so much slime in that shark's mouth that it begins 490 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: to convulse and it retreats. So what are their amlets? 491 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: Can you think of in the ocean that has such 492 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: a wonderfully direct and disgusting defense system. That's skunk ah 493 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,760 Speaker 1: underwater skunk. Yes, yeah, actually it is um. And it's 494 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,160 Speaker 1: so cool because this flenty hag fish is so confident 495 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: that it will just there's video of this, that it'll 496 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: just efforts been that it'll just kind of return to 497 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: eating again, like oh yeah, another shark just came by 498 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: tried to eat me. Yeah. Well, they're pretty pretty simple 499 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: creatures in that regard. I mean, they're very There's just 500 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: like eating corpses and occasionally sliming a shark, and that's 501 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 1: really all it has going on. And they do hunt 502 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: a bit too. There is video of them sticking their 503 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: heads into burrows trying to find fish, and then when 504 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: they do, it's thought that they choke a fish with 505 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: its slime, so they produced the slime. You can't imagine 506 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: that if you're in that burrowing, you're in that fish. Uh. 507 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,040 Speaker 1: And then they not themselves the lower half of its 508 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 1: buddy body to gain leverage against the burrow and drag 509 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 1: the fish out. Wow. I see. I have no idea 510 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: that they ever used their slime offensively. But yeah, yeah, 511 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,720 Speaker 1: not as much, right because they're mostly scavengers. But okay, 512 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:15,400 Speaker 1: you're not always going to have that whale carc gets 513 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: to feed on, and when times are tough, you turn 514 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: to hunting a lot of scavengers. Right, So you taste 515 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: you fish, go into a burrow, and that's it. Um. 516 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: It also knots itself to help free itself from predators 517 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,479 Speaker 1: in even as a way to clear the slime from 518 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: its body. Yes, I've seen that too. It kind of 519 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 1: rings itself out like a towel. I mean, not in 520 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 1: the sense that it's removing slime from inside it, but 521 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: just sort of like in the process of nodding itself, 522 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: it slaws it off kind of like you would if you, yea, 523 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: the same way were coming slime, I would just yeah, 524 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: we just did a little motion of getting it off 525 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: our arms there, all right. So this is not the 526 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: only creature obviously in the ocean that loves its slime. Actually, 527 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,120 Speaker 1: all fish recovered in slime. Yeah, it's uh, and it's 528 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,920 Speaker 1: it's really interesting. They out of the information we found 529 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: in this we found on fishing websites where they really 530 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: are are even better and better these days about about 531 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: trying to encourage fisher fishermen and fisherwomen and anglers in general. 532 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: I guess that when you catch a fish and you're 533 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: releasing it, you just try not to handle it all 534 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 1: that much because you're gonna wipe off slime, and the fishes, 535 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: the slime of the fish is really essential to so 536 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: many different functions, as we'll discuss here. One of the 537 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: coolest that we ran across, uh, the African lungfish and 538 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,680 Speaker 1: the African lungfish is creature that lives in swamps backwaters 539 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: of West and South Africa. Um they're carnivores. They eat 540 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 1: frogs and other small fish, but occasionally there's a drought 541 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: right and when the when the shallow water that lives 542 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: in evaporates, the lungfish secretes us the slime all around 543 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:56,240 Speaker 1: itself and forms that drives into a cocoon. And which 544 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: is important to you to note that they have lungs 545 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: and they can breathe are so it works in conjunction 546 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: with us. Yeah. They can live out of water in 547 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: this cocoon for up to a year, though usually it's 548 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,239 Speaker 1: not quite that long, yep. And they may hibernate by 549 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,640 Speaker 1: chewing into the soil and the debris at the bottom 550 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: of a waterway, ejecting mud from the gills as it 551 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,959 Speaker 1: burrows down. Pretty cool and it digs one to nine 552 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 1: inches below the surface, then wiggles around to create a 553 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: bulb shaped chamber. And then when the chamber is complete, 554 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,479 Speaker 1: the fish rest with its nose pointing upward and then 555 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:26,720 Speaker 1: in water, it can survive up to four years in 556 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: the state, so pretty much goes into a state of torpor. 557 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,719 Speaker 1: So what else does slime do for our fishy frienance. Well, 558 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: there's a there's a whole list of things for startist 559 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: slime plays in a portant role in the efficiency of 560 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: gas transport through the fish's skin. UH. It provides external 561 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: protection UH. It makes it externally slippery for larger creatures. 562 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: It makes it harder for parasites and pathogens to infiltrate 563 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: the fish. It also reduces turbulence, and this is especially 564 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: the case with fast moving fish that drag resulting from 565 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: small spaces between scales and UH and projecting body parts. 566 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: So you cover everything with some slime, everything smoother, the 567 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: fish is able to travel faster, more streamlined. Um Slime 568 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: is also useful for coagulating particles, providing clean water in 569 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: the immediate area around the fish, thus improving the movement 570 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: and dermal respiration. So it kind of gathers up the 571 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: dirt and allows a freshwater source. Produces toxins. We mentioned 572 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,479 Speaker 1: this already with the hag dish producing this the slime 573 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: that uses a defensive measure, but you also see this 574 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 1: in lamp freeze and and other slimy creatures. They're able 575 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: to use it again as a protective and occasionally offensive weapon. 576 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: Uh cocoon formation with the long fish that we already 577 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: mentioned feeding. Several fish secrete body slimes to feed their young. 578 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: Um Baby discus fish, for instance, feed on an over 579 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: a bunus of slime which develops on the sides of 580 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: the parent fish at breeding time. So and finally, it 581 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: can also be used as an alarm substance or a 582 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: nest filding material. So there you go, more facts about 583 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,400 Speaker 1: slime that you probably never knew. And I hope that 584 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: you have a better appreciation for the slugs in your life. 585 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: The hag fish, the African lungfish. Yeah, ultimately a slimy 586 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: creature is not nearly slimy so that it can, you know, 587 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:16,719 Speaker 1: shock you or repulse you. It's it's it's far more 588 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,720 Speaker 1: complicated than that, involving look, emotion, communication. And you're showing 589 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 1: the picture to me again. Um, I just wanted to 590 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: see coming to the merits have changed your mind? I 591 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: think you're still there. Um Oh. On a real hated note, 592 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: I will say I did a blog post yesterday, uh 593 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: titled good question colon how to salt melt the garden slug. 594 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,600 Speaker 1: If you're interested in learning about that, go check out 595 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: that blog post. It's a It's a really fascinating situation. 596 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: It's not just a situation where the salt is is 597 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,240 Speaker 1: destroying the slug, even though if that's what it looks 598 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: like when a kid puts salt on a slug, but 599 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 1: but ultimately it's drawing all of the all of the 600 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: moisture out of the slug. And it all has to 601 00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: do with the nature of slime and how the slime 602 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: ultimately a part of that creature. And I guess you 603 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: could vancouish slugs we thought method if you wanted to, 604 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: although it's not so great for the ecosystem. Yeah, I 605 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: just just just gross. They're better, they're suppose one or 606 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: two wouldn't hurt. But there are better ways to keep 607 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: slugs away. I'm not advocating slugs sadism, yeah, because really, Yeah, 608 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:21,640 Speaker 1: my thing with with putting salt on the slugs are 609 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: already thought they were gross, and if you put salt 610 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: on them, it's just a grosser situation. And I don't 611 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: want to cause them pain. I just want them to 612 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 1: not be around me. So okay, good to know. All right, Well, 613 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: on that note, we're gonna We're gonna skip on the 614 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:35,760 Speaker 1: listener mail today. Maybe we'll do some of the next 615 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: couple of episodes. So, indeed, look for our Valentine's Day 616 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,840 Speaker 1: episode on the sex life of slugs. It is grotesque 617 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: and should be a nice, nice remedy for anyone out 618 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: there who's just a little tired of the over commercialized 619 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 1: Valentine's Day nonsense. Well, I would say that there is 620 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:57,320 Speaker 1: some romance. There's some some visual fireworks going on, there's 621 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: some romance. There is some romance. There's a sister man's 622 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: and sister man's. It's just it's a whole new world 623 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,400 Speaker 1: of sexuality that you will discover in the next episode 624 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Bow Your Mind. I think it's her 625 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: MAP romance, actually map romance. Yes, the tune in for 626 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: them af romance. So in the meantime, if you have 627 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 1: some anecdotes you'd like to share about slugs, snails, slime, 628 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: slimy fish, the purposes of slime, slime on the movies, 629 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 1: slime on TV shows. Slime is just part of our culture. 630 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 1: Let us know about it. You can find us on Facebook, 631 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,040 Speaker 1: where we are Stuff to Blow your Mind. You can 632 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: find us on Tumbler, we're also stuff to blow your mind. 633 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter, where our handles blow 634 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,800 Speaker 1: the mind. And yes, you can share grotesque photos of 635 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: slugs and it'll probably make me wretch, but that's your 636 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 1: right as a listener. You guys know what to do, 637 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: all right. If you want to drop a line, you 638 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: can do so at Blow the Mind at discovery dot com. 639 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 1: Well more thisss and thousands of other topics, visit how 640 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:03,240 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com.