Sexy Slime, Gorgeous Goo, and Outrageous Ooze

Biological slime, the goo that is produced purposefully by a creature, is both the most disgusting AND the most versatile substance known to man.  For example, a snail produces a slime that is slippery so that it can gracefully glide across the sidewalk, but that same substance also acts as a glue that keeps the snail attached to the surface.  A hagfish produces a slime so thick and fibrous that it looks like spun cotton, and it is so dense it can choke a shark.  The craziest thing is:  Slime is mostly water!  98% water in fact.  You know this stuff is right up my alley, so I got in touch with the world’s foremost expert on Slime: Susanne Wedlich.  We talk about every ooze imaginable, from lubricated fish that live in the buttholes of sea cucumbers, to the stuff that coats our teeth every night.  By the end of this interview you may still think slime is gross, but you will also have a respect for its borderline magical properties as well.

Slime in Pop Culture

What do Ghostbusters, The Fly, The Blob, and Xenomorphs have in common?  They are all covered in slime!  In this bonus episode, Susanne and I discuss how slime is portrayed in movies and how this came to be.  Here is a teaser:  It has a lot to do with the human disgust response why we are revolted by all things glistening.