[HN Gopher] Why it takes you and an elephant the same amount of ...
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Why it takes you and an elephant the same amount of time to poop
(2017)
Author : Tomte
Score : 59 points
Date : 2026-03-06 20:19 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.pbs.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.pbs.org)
| michaelbuckbee wrote:
| Read to the end of the article to learn about NASA's Space Poop
| challenge and the award winning astronaut diaper the author
| created.
| drunkonvinyl wrote:
| But did you read to the end while pooping?
| Gualdrapo wrote:
| Elephants should do it quicker as they don't do doomscroll when
| pooping, though
| alex1138 wrote:
| Thanks Hacker News
| layman51 wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| Mammals converged on systems that satisfy the same fluid-
| mechanics.
| Smalltalker-80 wrote:
| Mostly solid scientific work, this ;)
| anigbrowl wrote:
| 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.
| joemi wrote:
| I too find it somewhat unsurprising, but I guess it's good that
| someone did a study.
| zahlman wrote:
| The direct proportionality is interesting, though. Not
| everything works out this way in nature; for example, many
| other things follow the square-cube law.
| larodi wrote:
| doodie.com was cool back in the day
| rwc wrote:
| I mean, I don't know what I was expecting but I clicked anyway...
| TheAceOfHearts wrote:
| 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...
| emestifs wrote:
| Amazing. Exactly the insightful comments that I hope to see on
| HN...perhaps not on the current subject but nonetheless
|
| > On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting.
| That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to
| reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that
| gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
| 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
| That was a beautiful design choice to use milk jugs for the
| visual.
| conductr wrote:
| 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.
| handfuloflight wrote:
| Wait, hold on. Are you saying from lingering smell you're able
| to determine that there's pathology?
| comboy wrote:
| If that sounds fun, you gonna love the story of Joy Milne who
| can smell the Parkinson's disease.
| lm28469 wrote:
| 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
| nitwit005 wrote:
| You can tell something is going wrong at least. I had a
| university roommate with a hereditary gut issue. I was able
| to recognize who he inherited from after his father visited.
| lo_zamoyski wrote:
| 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.
| conductr wrote:
| It's sufficiently foul and is heavy in the air, as in you can
| smell it for an hour or more after he's left. The foulness
| reminds me of the GI wing we had, were the hospital put all
| these cases in a single cluster so as to try and contain the
| smell. A "GI bleed" has a uniquely poopy smell, that is what
| I remember quite specifically. Hard to explain other than it
| is more than a smell, I have a strong stomach and never got
| sick myself, but it almost makes even me want to vomit.
|
| FWIW, other smells that I recall quite well - child birth,
| or, more specifically the odor of women in labor (there's a
| specific smell some women in labor produce, not all maybe
| half, that found it quite gross), gangrene and
| necrotic/rotting flesh, formalin, the morgue (it's a weird
| mix of chemicals and rot), all come to mind.
| derac wrote:
| Yes, say something. It's worth the awkwardness to potentially
| save someone's life. Just approach it delicately.
| emestifs wrote:
| 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...
| conductr wrote:
| 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.
| bonsai_spool wrote:
| > 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.
| doctorhandshake wrote:
| As part of a speculative fiction project I have imagined this
| scenario playing out many times over as people who wear AR-
| style displays have, eg, melanomas pointed out to them on
| bodies of people who don't wear and are unsure if they should
| say something.
| bluishgreen wrote:
| 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.
| otikik wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| 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.
| Alsedarna wrote:
| You'd be surprised how much discomfort people get acclimated to
| as just being normal and never end up diagnosing until
| something finally reaches the breaking point to forcing them in
| to see a doc. If it's been weighing on you for a while, you
| could probably gently broach it with something to the effect of
| "Hey man--I know there's no non-awkward way to put this, but I
| think your body might be digesting its own blood and I was
| worried about you and wanted to see if you were feeling
| alright."
| SoftTalker wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| Doctors have better tools than smell and consistency. However
| you as a layman don't normally have/use those tools.
| HarHarVeryFunny wrote:
| 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.
| bell-cot wrote:
| > do I say ... ?
|
| YES. Private, verbally. Intro with your long-ago medical
| experience in the area. Disclaimer with "obviously that
| experience is strongly biased toward illnesses, since they were
| in the hospital". Dunno whether you should mention anything as
| specific as "Likely he's digesting blood". Close with something
| about "not my business, but if you have not seen a doctor, then
| _please_ do so, for your health 's sake". Make it clear that he
| doesn't have to say anything to you in reply - not even a
| "thank you", let alone an answer or follow-up.
| barbazoo wrote:
| Anonymous note maybe if you really don't feel like talking to
| them.
| al_borland wrote:
| I think the not knowing who sent it would make it worse, at
| least for me. I'd assume everyone knows and be awkward around
| everyone.
| willturman wrote:
| 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.
| conductr wrote:
| This is my top ranking option , 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.
| lurking_swe wrote:
| have you considered writing a brief but anonymous letter,
| printing it, and putting it on his desk in a concealed
| envelope?
| friedtofu wrote:
| 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?
| lo_zamoyski wrote:
| 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.
| CommenterPerson wrote:
| 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.
| buffington wrote:
| "Listen, I'm no doctor, but your shit stinks in a way that
| makes me think you need to see one," said while you're in the
| stall next to him, or any other time, couldn't hurt.
| conductr wrote:
| Well said lol
| jrs235 wrote:
| Leave a note in the bathroom???
| Simulacra wrote:
| But I'm on the clock so..of course I take longer.
| vezuchyy wrote:
| Are you trying to say that an elephant with a phone will need 15
| minutes as well?
| cucumber3732842 wrote:
| Is that why it's the default setting on those motion lights?
| danilocesar wrote:
| Are elephants addicted to social media too?
| Reason077 wrote:
| > _" 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!
| anongoosey wrote:
| Something about this with urination too right? Like almost every
| animal takes the same amount of time?
| zahlman wrote:
| Yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47280917
| gvldev wrote:
| 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.
| chasing wrote:
| Poop like an elephant, pee like a bee.
| lo_zamoyski wrote:
| I was expecting something about Bernoulli's principle.
| smusamashah wrote:
| This reminds of a research that mammals take same amount of time
| to pee and it was 40 something seconds.
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