Curious Kids: what is snail slime – and why is it shiny?

By Sarah Pitt, Principal Lecturer, Microbiology and Biomedical Science Practice, Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science, University of Brighton
Alan Gunn, Principal Lecturer in Invertebrate Biology, Liverpool John Moores University

Why are snails’ trails shiny? – Liliana, aged eight, Dublin, Ireland

Snails produce a lot of slime, and it is incredibly useful to them.

Snail slime is made of a mixture of substances. It is mostly water mixed with proteins and some carbohydrates and minerals, formed into a sort of jelly. This jelly is called “mucus”. It’s not that different to the snot that comes out of your nose when you have a cold.

Snails produce two types…

Read complete article

~	Healthy teeth are wondrous and priceless – a dentist explains why and how best to protect them

~	Boeing’s Starliner is about to launch − if successful, the test represents an important milestone for commercial spaceflight

~	Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at 200: Revolutionary work of art has spawned two centuries of joy, goodwill and propaganda

~	How ‘apocalypse’ became a secular as well as religious idea

~	Columbia University protests look increasingly like those in 1968 as police storm campuses nationwide

~	South Africans are abandoning smallholder farming – history and policy can help explain why

~	The challenges African election bodies face go beyond ‘democratic backsliding’ – analysis

~	Marijeta Mojasevic's journey from stroke survivor to disability rights activist

~	Grattan on Friday: O'Neil and Giles dodge the spotlight shining on blunders over ex-detainees

~	US student Gaza protests: five things that have been missed