April 5, 2017 HERE I WAS, DIGGING IN THE SAND ALONG THE MEXICAN SHORES OF HUATULCO, A SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN WITH NATURAL COVES, LAGOONS, AND MAGNIFICENT CLIFFS OVERLOOKING THE ENDLESS OCEAN. THIS WAS NO VACATION, THOUGH. I WAS ON A MISSION — TO SEARCH OUT A PARTICULAR SNAIL AND TEST IF ITS SECRETION COULD BE…
read more
Among the more unlikely “marriages” arranged by human ingenuity is the one between the Chinese domesticated silk moth, Bombyx mori, and the Mediterranean sea snails of the Muricidae, or murex, family. The sea snails produce a pigment that, when brought together with silk, led to the world’s longest-lasting fashion statement. Written by Philippa Scott G.…
read more