But hagfish slime threads rival the properties of materials like nylon.

但盲鳗的黏液线可与尼龙等材料的特性相媲美。

To understand how this mystery was discovered, it helps to know how scientists started studying the chemical properties of materials on Earth.

要了解这个谜团是如何被发现的，就需要了解科学家是如何开始研究地球上物质的化学性质的。