Hagfish Slime Is Wonderful. Sadly, a flatbed truck dumping 7,5.

There are so few things to enjoy in this life. Windows Component Update Setup Foxpro Hellfire. We can imbibe in booze but only occasionally. In many states, we can’t (legally) indulge in The Devil’s Lettuce or.

Sadly, a flatbed truck dumping 7,500 lbs of live hagfish onto a highway in Oregon will not be the weirdest story of 2017. It will not even be close. Still, the.

Oregon will not be the weirdest story of 2. It will not evenbeclose.

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Still, the situation warrants some kind of scientific explanation, since it’s not every day that the mucus of a living fossil destroys a Prius. WKRG reports that yesterday, local authorities in Lincoln County, Oregon were alerted of an overturned truck on Highway 1. The flatbed had ostensibly spilled slimy hagfish over the road, severely damaging one unlucky Prius. No one was injured physically, at least.

The psychological damage can’t be quantified. In what was surely the most thrilling day in the history of the Oregon Department of.

Despite their nicknames—“slime eel” and “snot snake”—these creatures are neither eels nor snakes.“. Also, if there’s slime, it’s a hagfish.”According to Thaler, the Pacific Northwest has a pretty active hagfish fishery. This particular shipment of hagfish was bound for South Korea, where they are considered a delicacy. The obvious question here is, what’s up with all that mucous? Do hagfish hate modern highway infrastructure or harbor some sort of vendetta against Priuses?

Apparently, the hagfish uses slime for self- defense against predators or alternatively, for hunting prey.“The slime provides protection and helps isolate food,” Thaler explained. When they feed on a carcass, the slime pours out, covering the carcass and preventing other scavengers from encroaching on their food.”Though it looks gross, hagfish slime is actually something of a wonder material. Because it’s made of protein and sugar molecules known as mucin, hagfish mucous doesn’t dries out and harden over time—it stays all gooey.

But that doesn’t mean the mucous is weak, in fact, quite the opposite. Hagfish mucous also contains thread- like proteins that are incredibly tough, so much so that researchers are trying to figure out how they can use the slime to stop bleeding in accident victims, or make sustainable fabrics for clothes. Even the U. S. Navy is interested in engineering it for defensive materials against missiles. The humble hagfish produces a sticky slime to defend itself from predators, as well as to hunt for.