E21 GLUE

This time, Simon gets stuck in, and Bruce is, as usual, stuck up.

Glue has been used for so long for so much that it's become integral to our lives from top (hair products) to toe (shoe soles) and beyond. It's in so much that we use every day, but it all started with the natural world.

Natural Glues

There's a great article from Chemistry World that goes into detail about nature's adhesives. Click on the fly trap for the article

Glues in Art

Click on the eggs for an article from Cambridge University on the use of eggs in art.

Glues for kids

Click on the stick for the history of Pritt.

Snot Glue

Click here for the definitive story of snot glue.

Postal Glue

More than you ever wanted to know about stamp gum from Wikipedia. Just click on Vic.

Glues weak and strong

Post-it Notes

Push down the logo for the History of the Post-it

Superglue

Click on this picture of Harry Coover, the inventor of Superglue, for the full story.

And the story of the nuclear sub...

Back in January 2023, a Royal Navy investigation was launched amid claims contractors tried to repair a Trident nuclear submarine with super glue. The repair job reportedly involved gluing together broken bolts in a nuclear reactor chamber on HMS Vanguard. The bolts were broken during a dry dock refurbishment and refuel at HMNB Devonport in Plymouth

The repair on crucial cooling pipes allegedly came to light when a bolt broke off during checks aboard the 16,000 tonne vessel. It had snapped off due to over-tightening, but rather than reporting the damage and boring out the broken shafts, civilian workers at defence contractor Babcock stuck the heads back on with glue.

A procedural glitch - known as a process of work issue - was reported, but there was no mention of the bolts and glue. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace insisted on a meeting and sought "assurances about future work" after the news was brought to his attention.

A source within the Navy said he was furious about Babcock's lack of transparency. They told the paper: “It’s a disgrace. You can’t cut corners with nuclear. Standards are standards. Nuclear standards are never compromised.”