Friday Fun: Five Gross and Goofy Body Facts

• Most snot is produced by cells on the surface of your nasal passages. In just one day, you make enough snot to fill a 1-liter soda bottle.
• Snot surrounds dirt, germs, and other pesky particles. Over time, the mixture dries and hardens into a solid booger. Some boogers are soft and squishy. Others are tough and crumbly. But they can all hold their shape.
• Snot is one kind of mucus, a thick, gummy goo that animals use in all kinds of ways. The mucus on an African chameleon’s tongue is perfect for catching tasty insects.
• The mucus on a tree frog’s toes helps it stick to branches and other rough surfaces.
• When predators attack, a hagfish slimes them with mucus. The sticky goo traps the enemies while the hagfish escapes.

Looking for more Gross and Goofy Body facts? Check out my book Germ Wars: The Secrets of Fighting Invaders. It’s full of weird, wacky, strange, and surprising information about your body and the bodies of other animals.