For some time now, it's been known that when free-swimming barnacle larvae decide to secure themselves to a surface (and subsequently become the crusty barnacles that we know), they do so by secreting two liquids. It was assumed that these two substances mixed together to form one bioadhesive, sort of like the two-part epoxies found in hardware stores.

An international team led by scientists from Newcastle University in the UK have observed that that isn't the case, however.