A Twist of Slime*

Big Picture Science

Your daily mucus output is most impressive. Teaspoons or measuring cups can’t capture its entire volume. Find out how much your body churns out and why you can’t live without the viscous stuff. But slime in general is remarkable. Whether coating the bellies of slithery creatures, sleeking the surface of aquatic plants, or dripping from your nose, its protective qualities make it one of the great inventions of biology. Join us as we venture to the land of ooze!

Guests:

Christopher Viney - Professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Merced

Katharina Ribbeck - Bioengineer at MIT

Anna Rose Hopkins - Chef and partner at Hank and Bean in Los Angeles

Ruth Kassinger - author of “Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us”

*Originally aired January 27, 2020

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