Piles of mysterious slime are falling from the sky?! It is said to have magical effects. What is this weird thing?

For hundreds of years, people around the world have been puzzled by a strange thing called star jelly. What exactly is it?

Something strange suddenly appeared on the grass? | Flickr

In 1733, a person who discovered star jelly wrote to the Royal Society of London, saying that he saw a meteor and found "jelly" in some places where the meteors fell.

Star jelly also appeared in earlier documents. A 13th-century English doctor described it as "a kind of mucus from the earth" and said it could treat abscesses. Documents from the 14th century said that this translucent or grayish-white mucus would evaporate soon after falling. Mexicans called it "moon feces." Others described this "jelly" as having a buttery texture and often appearing in fields after rain.

From ancient times to the present, people often find this strange thing in humid environments. ｜Flickr

Reports of star jelly continue to this day, but there are many different opinions on how it appeared.

In 1979, a resident in Texas, USA, said that after a meteor shower, purple clumps of slime appeared in her yard. Researchers at the time investigated and found that local battery recycling plants may produce a purple byproduct. However, the material may not match, that byproduct is solid, but star jelly is gelatinous.

In 1926, a sample collected was considered to be frog eggs. This was because scientists at the time found some oviduct or ovary-like tissue in the gel and believed that it should come from the frog's digestive tract and bladder.

This conjecture actually makes sense, because when amphibians are preparing to lay eggs, the eggs in the oviduct will be covered with a jelly-like coat, which is called egg jelly in English.

Researchers have found that the jelly coating of the egg may have multiple functions, releasing chemicals that lure and guide sperm toward the egg. Studies on an Albanian water frog have shown that this "jelly" is important for sperm and can make them more active .

This is a gelatinous substance that contains amphibian eggs. | wiki

This jelly-like substance is mainly composed of glycoproteins and peptides. Studies have shown that one of the polysaccharides derived from algae may play an important role in fertilization. Other benefits of this fucoidan have also been found, such as anti-thrombotic and anti-oxidant properties.

If star jelly is some substance that frogs vomit, it seems more reasonable. A veterinarian who discovered star jelly in 2013 also thought so. And he said that female frogs do vomit some jelly substance when they are attacked. After absorbing water from the wet ground, it becomes the mysterious star jelly.

However, some people have other discoveries and conjectures. In 2019, a large amount of gelatinous substance appeared in the yard of a couple in the United States. "If this is related to frogs, it must be an extremely large frog."

The couple discovered too many "star jellies". | Reference 5

In this discovery, some people speculated that this thing might be an artificial colloid that expands when it absorbs water , like water babies. Their raw material is sodium polyacrylate, a highly absorbent polymer that can absorb a large amount of water into the network structure to form hydrogen bonds.

This highly absorbent polymer has a wide range of uses, such as diapers, ice pads, flame retardants, etc. It can also be used in agriculture to enhance the water retention of soil , and can even be used as magic crystal soil (a colorful water-containing resin containing the nutrients needed by flowers and trees).

Other speculations about star jelly are that it comes from Nostoc. Ordinary Nostoc also looks like a mass of gel when wet , so it is also called "angel's tears". However, they have strong survival ability and can survive in extremely dry conditions. They also have the function of fixing nitrogen. And they can be eaten, and hair moss is one of them.

Because it is rich in protein and vitamin C and can survive under extreme conditions, hair algae is also believed to be able to be grown and eaten in alien environments.

This is common Nostoc. | wiki

In addition to cyanobacteria, star jellies may also be slime molds. Many strange slime molds in nature may appear as colorful jelly-like substances . After drying, wind and rain will spread these scattered spores everywhere.

However, these are just speculations by scientists. Someone else reported that he saw a gelatinous transparent substance falling from the sky like raindrops. Some people said it was a pollutant or bird vomit, but in the end no answer was given.

This is a type of slime mold. | wiki

But in any case, when exploring what star jelly is, this kind of sticky stuff is very common both in nature and in our lives. Maybe we can only wait until the next time we actually see star jelly to conduct a specific analysis.

Have you seen any strange substances in nature? Feel free to leave a comment in the comment section!

References

[1]https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2015/05/4_people_fall_ill_after_trusti.html

[2]https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/29/health/mushrooms-poisoning-foraging/index.html

[3]https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/29/health/mushrooms-poisoning-foraging/index.html

[4]https://www.citizen.org/article/mushroom-risk-ai-app-misinformation/?utm_source=VentureBeat&utm_campaign=cef30891a2-EMAIL_CA MPAIGN_2024_03_19_01_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-dff594d55a-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=cef30891a2&mc_eid=6385387dc8

[5]https://www.404media.co/ai-generated-mushroom-foraging-books-amazon/

[6]https://www.tumblr.com/rebeccathenaturalist/726294696941518848/hey-there-fellow-naturalist-albeit-less?ref=404media.co

[7]https://gizmodo.com/google-search-ai-answers-slavery-benefits-1850758631

[8]https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15563650.2022.2162917

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Source: Bring Science Home (ID: steamforkids)

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