All mammals poop in 12 seconds and pee in 21 seconds, but how? Why?
An elephant’s rectum is 10 times longer than a cat’s, yet they defecate in the same amount of time. This conundrum vexed researchers at Georgia Tech.
The findings contain seven variables and a fractional exponent, but here's the gist: the time it takes to poop is equal to said poop’s length divided by its velocity.
Bigger animals may make bigger turds, but they also exert a greater force upon those turds and have more mucus to help them slide along down the alimentary chute that is the rectum.
Gravity was discounted because most mammals have horizontal recta (yup, that’s one plural of rectum).
The Georgia Tech research group had already won a 2015 Ig Nobel Prize for finding that all mammals pee in about 21 seconds, so maybe they just wanted to collect the defecation prize set.
But gastrointestinal health is crucial, and knowing what’s normal helps doctors determine what’s abnormal.
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17 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.And did you know that dogs have to orient themselves along the Polar Axis before they can go doo-doo? Researchers studied 70,000 dogs going potty to figure that out. Next time you see a dog doing his stuff, note that one end, or the other will be facing magnetic north!
davknight
Level 8
May 9, 2019
1
I have my stopwatch/timer ready to go.....when I am.
Mooolah
Level 8
May 8, 2019
1
I am highly skeptical myself. Surely this study of "animals" didn't include humans.
Small correction - it was the 2015 IG Nobel prize in physics.....
Source:
RPardoe
Level 7
May 8, 2019
0
I deleted the Ig because I wasn't familiar with that prize, and thought it was only a typo.
Thanks for the explanation.
This must be an average time because there are definitely times when it's longer or shorter based on consistency.
Kynlei
Level 8
May 8, 2019
2
My thought as well. I'd heard this before and started paying attention. It's either an average or total BS.
Shit, must be something wrong with me.....I read this all the way through, and thought " Hummmmmmmm" I did not know that. 76 years old in a couple of days, and still learning about shit........
HankSherman
Level 8
May 8, 2019
2
Happy Birthday in a couple of days. 
@Kynlei thank you.....nice of you....
Shit happens!
@of-the-mountain there you are.
Just a reminder that shit, I mean poop is everywhere!
Just goes to show assholes are among us always!
of-the-mountain
Level 9
May 8, 2019
2
I came back to agnostic dot com for this?
AlbertSchepis
Level 7
May 8, 2019
4
Won't think about biological materials the same way ever again!
AnonySchmoose
Level 8
May 8, 2019
3
Really ? And this is something we should know for the trivia quiz ?
Cast1es
Level 9
May 7, 2019
3
Although the Georgia Tech researchers showed us why and how physically and mathematically this poop time limit happens, I still have many questions, such as WHY did this time line evolve, what was the advantage/purpose of it, why do both prey and predator have the same defecation time limit despite different danger levels for them.
It's like asking why people fall in love and scientists showing us brain mappings and hormone releases instead of explaining it has an evolutionary advantage; when a man falls in love, he is more likely to hang around and help raise his progeny, thus increasing their chances of survival.
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