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Tag Archives: mucus

Deadly new virus emerges

By Janet Raloff / March 19, 2013

Microscopic photo of the new germ, shown in false color. Credit: NIAID/NIH

A mysterious infection has been spreading for almost a year

Posted in Body & Health | Tagged CDC, Centers for Disease Control, coronavirus, epidemic, Eric Snijder, genes, germs, getinvolved, Gwen Stephens, immune system, immunity, infections, inflammation, Leiden University Medical Center, lung disease, microbiology, Mohamed Zaki, mucus, mutate, mutations, pandemic, pneumonia, Saliva, SARS, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health, Susan Gerber, Tina Saey

Strong and slimy

By Stephen Ornes / January 10, 2013

Scientist Atsuko Negishi holds a hagfish in one hand and its slime in the other. She studies the ooze in the lab of materials scientist David Fudge, at far right. Credit: Andra Zommers/University of Guelph

Scientists spin threads from snotlike secretions of hagfish

Posted in Technology & Engineering | Tagged Atsuko Negishi, Canada, Douglas Fudge, fabric, getinvolved, goo, hagfish, material science, materials, mucus, National Museum of New Zealand, ooze, predators, proteins, slime, threads, topstories, University of Guelph

Threatened coral get fishy rescue

By Stephen Ornes / December 6, 2012

When toxic seaweed (green at right) gets too close to a type of coral (yellow structure), this fish, a broad-barred goby (Gobiodon histrio), responds to a distress signal sent by the coral and nibbles the seaweed away. Credit: Danielle Dixson

When toxic seaweed gets too close to this coral, gobies fight and bite back

Posted in Animals | Tagged Acropora nasuta, Adaptation, algae, algal poison, Chlorodesmis fastigiata, climate change, cooperation, coral, Danielle Dixson, ecology, getinvolved, goby, marine ecology, Mark Hay Georgia Institute of Technology, mucus, mutualism, Nancy Knowlton, predators, seaweed, Smithsonian Institution, topstories, toxin

A slime with memory

By Stephen Ornes / October 25, 2012

A slime mold, like the one shown here, leaves a trail of snotlike goo behind it. New research shows that a slime mold can tell where it’s been and usually avoids traveling on its own previous paths. Credit: Courtesy of Audrey Dussutour

Even without a brain, this slime mold knows where it’s been

Posted in Microbes, Fungi & Algae | Tagged Chris R. Reid, getinvolved, memory, microorganism, mucus, nuclei, nucleus, P. polycephalum, Physarum polycephalum, plasmodium, protists, slime mold, unicellular life. cells, University of Sydney