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Next > My Mussel Glue Can Beats Your Gorilla Glue From the
glands of its slug-like foot, a mussel secretes a glue that in less than five minutes
- under water - hardens into a filament, or byssal thread, that will attach it for
life to an intertidal rock. Mussel glue can resist forces of 1000 lbs/in2.
That's better than a barnacle. "There's no manmade glue that can do that underwater,"
says marine biologist Herbert Waite. Using Blue Mussels in his research, Waite is
on the verge of creating the first synthetic mussel-like glue. It's all in the polymer
cross-linking. Applications include surgery on hard and soft tissues, marine vessel
repair, and dentistry. This is "disruptive technology" in the world of adhesives.
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