2010年6月1日 · They shoot slime that immobilises prey, giving a velvet worm enough time to sidle up and inject its victim with digestive enzymes. The slime is incredible stuff.

2023年10月18日 · Researchers discovered a rare kind of protein modification in the slime of velvet worms, a finding that could one day help scientists make plastics and glues more recyclable. Velvet worms shoot sticky jets of slime to defend themselves and capture prey.

2023年9月25日 · The projectile slime slung by velvet worms rapidly transitions from liquid to gel to solid. Terrifying for the prey it traps but tantalizing for scientists seeking to understand the complex substance and inspire new, sustainable materials.

2015年3月17日 · Elastic glands are the secret to their sticky hunting strategy, a new study suggests. Velvet worms, caterpillar-like invertebrates with long antennae and cartoonish faces, are strange enough on...

Physics and biology meet to create one of the world's strangest weapons: the slime cannon. Summary. With their chubby bodies, soft, padded feet, and slow-motion gait, South American velvet worms appear pretty harmless. Unless they’re hungry, and you’re an insect.

2022年11月10日 · Our findings achieved by high-resolution and time-dependent physicochemical characterization of the velvet worms’ slime reveal structural and chemical alterations following the impact of mechanical stimuli.

The slime of velvet worms (Onychophora) is a strong and fully biodegradable protein material, which upon ejection undergoes a fast liquid-to-solid transition to ensnare prey. However, the molecular mechanisms of slime self-assembly are still not well understood, notably because the primary structure …

2003年8月28日 · The worm rapidly spits out slime from tubes on either side of its head. This quickly covers it prey and immediately begins to set hard, going very stringy and rope-like.

2015年3月18日 · The velvet worm is a slow-moving, unassuming creature. With its soft body, probing antennae, and jointless legs, it looks like a slug on stilts as it creeps along damp logs in tropical climates. But it has a secret weapon.

2017年2月23日 · These deceptively cute purple worms are in fact fearsome predators, launching a net of sticky slime from tiny hoses to capture prey. Scientists are using high-speed cameras to understand how...