Discussion

Why it takes you and an elephant the same amount of time to poop

michaelbuckbee: Read to the end of the article to learn about NASA's Space Poop challenge and the award winning astronaut diaper the author created.

alex1138: Thanks Hacker News

drunkonvinyl: But did you read to the end while pooping?

Gualdrapo: Elephants should do it quicker as they don't do doomscroll when pooping, though

conductr: I spent a lot of time in hospitals and got a lot of exposure to everything they do in my early adulthood, a few smells are permanently burnt into my brain including the smell of the GI wing.Fast forward a couple decades, and my dilemma right now is a coworker that I share a restroom with. It’s a low traffic restroom so I have seen and know it’s coming from him, but he has some serious GI issues. Likely he’s digesting blood from my memory of the ailments. And so the dilemma is, do I say something to him? He looks like he is in awful health and high probability with an awful diet (based on profiling him). But I don’t interact with him or have any type of relationship and saying something would be incredibly awkward. Surely he knows I tell myself.

TheAceOfHearts: Since we're on the subject of waste removal, most mammals also pee for roughly the same amount of time [0], around 20 seconds. If you look up a video of an elephant urinating, it's quite the spectacle and the flow is voluminous.[0] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/mammals-p...

rwc: I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting but I clicked anyway…

larodi: doodie.com was cool back in the day

anigbrowl: Why would you expect anything else? It's also easier for larger people to pick up heavier weights, larger bullets to make larger holes, etc. etc. Of course larger animals are going to have larger muscles in their digestive tracts in approximate proportion to everything else about them being larger.

bluishgreen: Likely Chron's. Yes, please proceed. But make some effort at being tactful about it, just so the information will be received and faster. This could be life changing for them.

bonsai_spool: > And so the dilemma is, do I say something to him? He looks like he is in awful health and high probability with an awful diet (based on profiling him). But I don’t interact with him or have any type of relationship and saying something would be incredibly awkward. Surely he knows I tell myself.It's an interesting question—if you have knowledge about human health based on a person's appearance, do you share that information? I think a physician may not do that for a stranger, but I imagine you aren't a physician.

danilocesar: Are elephants addicted to social media too?

emestifs: Reminds me of this story: fan spotted a mole on a hockey team's staff's neck - https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2022/01/03/hock...

gvldev: The article says "elephant feces have a volume of 20 liters, nearly a thousand times more than a dog's, at 10 milliliters." Is 10K nearly 20K?Regardless, modern dog breeds vary in size wildly, and I'm curious how they standardize the average fecal volume across the sizes. My dogs are most certainly not expelling just 10 milliliters... I can't imagine that number is even accurate for small dogs.

otikik: Absolutely tell him. There's two options, let's see what's the worst that can happen in every circumstance:* He is indeed sick. In this case the worst that can happen is that they will die.* He isn't sick, you are just imagining things. In this case the worst that can happen is that you made a bit of a fool of yourself. Potentially embarrasing yourself in front of a fellow employee. I guess there's a small possibility of him taking it the wrong way, I suppose.It's death on one hand versus a personal embarrassment/awkardness on the other. To me the choice is clear.

7777332215: Maybe he will get so offended you were smelling his shit and commented on it that he reports you to the top ranking officials of the organization resulting in the death penalty.

handfuloflight: Wait, hold on. Are you saying from lingering smell you're able to determine that there's pathology?

lm28469: There are a lot of reports of people, and animals, who can smell some cancers and other diseases. It's not very well studied but I don't think it's far fetched

chasing: Poop like an elephant, pee like a bee.

barbazoo: Anonymous note maybe if you really don't feel like talking to them.

willturman: Yeah, and make sure you cut out letters from magazines and paste them onto the note so you can't be identified by your handwriting.

friedtofu: Are you sure your coworker hasn't been eating a lot of corn or pineapples lately(possibly leading to visible sores in the mouth?)If it's so low traffic maybe whenever y'all run into each other you could just do something subtle like a visual cue like a nod or just a "hey how are you?" if they seem to be in a good mood whenever you happen to pass by each other in the workplace.Not saying you have to be friends with this person but maybe after a few of those small interactions(and a little time) bring it up in a non-direct way...Best case scenario if he replies to a "hey how are ya?" with "oh good, how about you?" you could casually bring up something like "oohhh, had a patient that came in with (same symptoms as the guy) - we figured out it was this. Don't see that often!"Hopefully he's drinking at least 50 gallons of water a day, and eating tree bark seems to be a good remedy for GI issues.Oh wait, is your coworker a human or an elephant?

SoftTalker: There was a time when medicine put a lot of focus on the smell and consistency of bowel movements. There's probably something to it but we have better diagnostics now. That said, normal bowel movements can have a bit of an odor but it should not be strong or particularly foul-smelling. If it is, consider changing your diet or getting it checked out if that doesn't help. I found that just cutting out fast foods made that particular bodily function nearly odorless.

bluGill: Doctors have better tolls than smell and consistency. However you as a layman don't normally have/use those tools.

CommenterPerson: How about a general chat and then asking him about his health? If he comes out saying he's not feeling great, that would be an opening for more pointed advice. If not, maybe you could say something like you thought he was looking under the weather.

lo_zamoyski: If he looks sick, that might be enough to nudge him in the right direction, in private. "Are you okay? You really don't look well. Having worked in a GI wing at a hospital, I've noticed a few signs that might point to serious GI issues. I would suggest you see a doctor ASAP, just to be safe." If he asks what signs, you can say "among others, you look ill". That way, you can avoid talking about the smell. You can also say you don't feel comfortable getting into the details, but that you nonetheless felt morally bound to let him know based on your experience.Or perhaps mention it to your manager. He can then tell your coworker that there has been concern about his health and that he recommends seeing a specialist.What he does with that information is completely his responsibility after that. You cannot make anyone happy by force, and it isn't any of your business.

conductr: This is my top ranking opinion, he’s actually the building door man so he will be able to view the cameras if he wanted to track me down but I doubt he’d confront me out of similar awkwardness and my positive intent.Think I will move forward with it and try to do my part to help the guy out.

lo_zamoyski: I was expecting something about Bernoulli's principle.

HarHarVeryFunny: No, poop is meant to smell repulsive. This is evolution's way to discourage you from doing anything unhealthy like touching it or eating it.

lo_zamoyski: It's not difficult for many conditions. Digested blood has a metallic and vile odor. Ketosis and diabetes can cause acetone-smelling breath. Kidney disease can cause ammonia body odor. Liver disease can cause a fishy, musty smell. Unhealthy diets and GI issues can cause bad odors.In the past, I have often wondered what is wrong with people given how badly they smelled in the locker room or after leaving a restroom. Truly unnatural odors.

jrs235: Leave a note in the bathroom???

conductr: I handled a lot of biopsy tissue back then, and oddly enough had a sexual encounter several years later where I implored her to go get a mammogram afterwards due to something I felt. She didn’t take it seriously and I hounded her about it. She finally went in and within a month had a double mastectomy and started chemo.Somehow a random person’s poop feels more awkward to discuss.

layman51: This reminds me of a news story from many years ago about a research study that won the Ig Nobel Prize. The research study was about how almost all mammals weighing over 3 kg take just about the same amount of time to empty their bladders when urinating.

cainxinth: Mammals converged on systems that satisfy the same fluid-mechanics.

vezuchyy: Are you trying to say that an elephant with a phone will need 15 minutes as well?

cucumber3732842: Is that why it's the default setting on those motion lights?

feces have a volume of 20 liters, nearly a thousand times more than a dog's, at 10

Reason077: > "elephant feces have a volume of 20 liters, nearly a thousand times more than a dog's, at 10 milliliters"Surely this depends greatly on the size of the dog. I've seen dog poops that are far bigger than that. That 10 ml poop must be from a very small dog!