Slime eel garners Navy attention

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - It looks and feels a lot like snot, but Navy researchers believe slime produced by the primitive hagfish – or slime eel - could help save lives. A Navy research team here at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City is beginning to work on how best to turn synthetic slime into something useful. "From a tactical standpoint, it would be interesting to have a material that can change the properties of the water at dilute concentrations in a matter of seconds," Ryan Kincer, a materials engineer at NSWC Panama City, said in a statement. Its researchers believe that, by reproducing the slime, they one day could replace synthetic products derived from petroleum, such as protection for firefighters and divers - anti-shark spray and coating for ships to protect against barnacles. Some products derived from the slime could work their way into the private sector. (Source: Navy Times 02/12/17)