Poop

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.Have you ever been out on a walk and as you take that next step, you feel the slippery squish of poop under your foot?It’s not just gross. Beyond the mess and the smell, it’s potentially infectious. That’s why signs reminding pet owners to “curb your dog” and scoop their poop have been joined in some places by posted warnings that pet waste can spread disease.On supporting science journalismIf you're…

You can’t talk about the world of Dune without talking about sandworms. The massive, monolithic creatures are at the heart of not just Frank Herbert’s original novel, but both halves of Denis Villeneuve’s epic film adaptation. And if you’re talking about sandworms, you’re probably going to talk about thumpers.Prepping the Sandworm Scenes in Dune: Part TwoWhat’s a thumper? They’re the black, cylindrical devices the Fremen of Arrakis use to produce a slow, steady rhythmic beat that attracts sandworms. In Dune: Part One,…

Last month, Gizmodo got an email from WastewaterSCAN, a company that monitors sewage for traces of infectious disease. The outfit had a pitch for us: February 12th is “National Poop Day,” the company said. Would we like to talk to an expert for our Poop Day coverage?Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: 3 Things We Love and HateHere’s the problem: today is February 12th, but it’s not National Poop Day, and I’ll tell you why: it’s because that is not a real thing. Enough is enough. Corporate America would have you believe that every…

Have you ever been out on a walk and as you take that next step, you feel the slippery squish of poop under your foot?It's not just gross. Beyond the mess and the smell, it's potentially infectious. That's why signs reminding pet owners to "curb your dog" and scoop their poop have been joined in some places by posted warnings that pet waste can spread disease.As a small-animal primary care veterinarian, I deal with the diseases of dog and cat poop on a daily basis. Feces represent potential zoonotic hazards, meaning they…

Every parent should be able and willing to take care of their own child. Though top-tier parenting skills won’t appear overnight (it’s a process!), what matters is doing your best. However, you’ll never build those skills if you only ever have others look after your kid.Redditor u/Buffy0943 amused the r/pettyrevenge online community with a hilarious tale about how she finally got her brother to babysit his own baby when his wife was away. It involved different (safe to eat) foods and a literal “baby poop war.” Read on…

A Japanese startup is experimenting with alternative rocket fuel options. The startup, Interstellar Technologies Inc., says it was able to kickstart a space rocket engine designed to run off locally-sourced cow poop. The touted high-efficiency, low-cost combustion chamber is known as ZERO, and it could help launch small satellites into space in the future.The company says that its 10-second static fire test was successful and that it shows that a rocket engine can be powered by liquid biomethane, which was…

December 13, 20234min readThese froglets disguise themselves as feces to gross out potential predators until they’re old enough to glide through jungle canopiesBy Elizabeth Anne BrownResting juvenile Wallace's flying frogs (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) Wallace’s flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus)—a Kermit-green amphibian that would fit in the palm of your hand—spreads its webbed toes to glide gracefully through tropical forest canopies in Borneo, the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. But before it…

The man made flood that miraculously saved our heroes at the end of O Brother Where Art Thou were an actual occurrence in the 19th and 20th century — and a fairly common one at that — as river valleys across the American West were dammed up and drowned out at the altar of economic progress and electrification. Such was the case with Washington State's Elwha river in the 1910s. Its dam provided the economic impetus to develop the Olympic Peninsula but also blocked off nearly 40 miles of river from the open ocean,…

Image: Sutiwat Prutthiprasert (Shutterstock)You’d better think twice before leaving your dog poop on a sidewalk in this French town. Canine owners in Béziers will have to carry around a genetic passport in a bid to keep the streets of the town clean.Threads Needs These Five Missing Features to Be a Twitter KillerThe Guardian reports that officials in Béziers will create a database of genetic data from dogs using swabs of their saliva taken by veterinarians. That infowill then be used to create a genetic passport for each…

A particularly impressive red alga has already shown great promise in dramatically reducing the alarming levels of methane gas produced by a cow's enteric digestive system. Now, a team of scientists has moved from the animal's belches to its tail end, in an effort to get to the bottom of the methane produced in the poop.Researchers in Sweden found that by adding the tropical Asparagopsis taxiformis (AT), also known as red sea plume, to cow feces, it cut methane production in the poop by nearly half.While feces emits a…