
What to know when your car is melted by 7,500 pounds of slime eels - xbmcuser
https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/7/14/15969674/slime-eels-hagfish-oregon-highway-truck-accident-slime-mucus-goo
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kileywm
A truck, carrying live Pacific hagfish, spilled the cargo in a 5-car
collision. Hagfish produce slime to escape danger, and thus slimed the cars
onto which they landed. There was no melting involved.

~~~
wyldfire
Thanks for the clarification, I read the article expecting to find something
about corrosive properties of the slime but couldn't understand why it wasn't
even mentioned.

A bit frustrating that they used the word "melting".

s/melting by/covered with/

~~~
digi_owl
Its Verge, it comes with the territory.

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js2
The FAQ linked to from the verge is a much better source:

[http://www.southernfriedscience.com/your-car-has-just-
been-c...](http://www.southernfriedscience.com/your-car-has-just-been-crushed-
by-hagfish-frequently-asked-questions/)

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xbmcuser
Well this is embarrassing I was actually posting it to Reddit pressed the
wrong app

~~~
sosuke
Looks like an unexpected success then. You've got everyone talking about
melting, melded, slimed and how they would correct the title or article.

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danans
> And it turns out, the eel-like creatures are not, in fact, eels. They’re
> Pacific hagfish — primitive jawless fish

>It’s the main defense mechanism for the toothy, bottom-feeding invertebrates

AFAIK, They can't be invertebrates if they are a type of fish.

EDIT: It appears they are certainly Chordates, but is some controversy over
which sub-branch of Chordates they actually belong to. See:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnatha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnatha)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclostomata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclostomata)

~~~
reitanqild
Article has an update as well:

 _Correction: This story initially identified hagfish as invertebrates because
they don’t have vertebrae. Verge commenter bennyfactor pointed out that
hagfish are in fact considered “odd” or “degenerate” vertebrates. He’s
correct, and the story has been updated._

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glennsl
Non-AMP link: [https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/14/15969674/slime-eels-
hagfi...](https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/14/15969674/slime-eels-hagfish-
oregon-highway-truck-accident-slime-mucus-goo)

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euparkeria
Melt also means "covered in slime or liquid"? English is not my first
language.

~~~
inopinatus
Not generally, no, although I am reminded of a style of melted-cheese-coated
sandwiches called "melts".

~~~
orclev
In that context it's the cheese that's being melted, not the sandwich. Melting
implies some kind of state change from solid to liquid (or semi-liquid), which
is in fact the case in a melt sandwich where the cheese is melting. In this
case the slime was already in a liquid state so there's no change taking place
and it would therefore be incorrect to refer to it as melting. It DOES look
kind of like the car was melted because of the accident damage combined with
being covered in slime, which is I guess what the title is alluding to.

~~~
inopinatus
Nothing is so small that Hacker News cannot overthink it, not even a cheese
sandwich.

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midgetjones
"Anti-shark spray" has got to be a Batman reference, hasn't it?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn-
ZXgXQeGY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn-ZXgXQeGY)

~~~
sosborn
[https://www.sharktecdefense.com/products/instant-release-
sha...](https://www.sharktecdefense.com/products/instant-release-shark-
repellent-spray)

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diabeetusman
I don't think the article ever really answers the question that it posed in
the subtitle: does insurance cover hagfish slime?

Invoking Betteridge's law of headlines, I'm guessing not?

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js2
It should be covered by comprehensive coverage, but probably not by collision.

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protomyth
Depending on the state, the truck owner's insurance is going to be paying. It
falls under the same laws for construction vehicles hauling dirt that drop a
rock on your windshield.

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fenwick67
The video of them squirming around on the ground in the goop is nightmare fuel

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petraeus
Headline is typical Verge clickbait

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api
So wait... Your hovercraft actually can get full of eels? Whoa!

