Photo: By Adams, Lionel Ernest (1854-1945) - Adams, L.E. 1896. The collector's manual of British land and freshwater shells. Second Edition. Taylor, Leeds.
Would it not be great if you could smell with your body just like a slug?
Slugs are everywhere! And gooey slime is a wonderful substance that can solve many problems.
Britain has ideal conditions for slugs to thrive - cool damp summers and warmish mild wet winters. Climate changes also contribute into turning our neighbourhood into slug paradise. Slugs are real survivors and they have been present in the British Isles since the Ice Age.
Unlike snails, slugs do not hibernate during winter and they are active when the weather is warm. surprisingly, well at least to me, they can live for up to 6 years ad they have an enormous number of teeth (27, 000)
Ewwwwww! Slime! But slime is a wonderful substance that helps a slug to glide over things like glass shards and even to the edge of a sharp blade.
In the video below, you can watch banana slugs from the redwood forests of California glide with the help of ooey goey slime.
Slugs lack a shell and they use the slime to protect themselves. They also leave a scent trail so that they can find their way home.
And if you touch the slime and then try to wash it off you will find that it is almost impossible. The slime absorbs water.
Slime is a werid thing - it is a liquid crystal. Something between liquid and solid.
Play "What If" and see if you can get soem excitign ideas inspired by slugs and slime.
Here are one What If question to get you started.
- What if you could use slime under your shoes to walk to school faster?
