Science solves another of life"s mysteries

[packman]

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Wombats, which are native to Australia, are known across the globe for their cuteness and their unique poop, which comes out in cubes. The geometric fecal phenomenon has long been a mystery — until now.

A team of scientists finally cracked the science behind wombat poo, and published their findings in the aptly named Soft Matter journal last month.

According to the paper, called “Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces,” researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Tasmania and the Taronga Conservation Society dissected dead wombats that had died after being hit by vehicles, and noticed that the guts of the creatures contained layers of muscle and tissue, with two stiff areas and two more flexible ones.

After creating a mathematical model to emulate how this gut might expand and contract during food digestion, the researchers determined that after feces are dried out in the extremely long wombat colon (roughly 10 meters, or 33 feet, in length), the stiff and flexible regions contract in tandem, sculpting the poop into its unique shape.

University of Tasmania wildlife ecologist Scott Carver, who worked on the study, said in a Royal Society of Chemistry press release that wombats typically leave their turds at “prominent points in their home range, such as around a rock or a log, to communicate with each other.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wombat-poop-cubes-why_n_6014818ac5b63b0fb280e1ab

[Wicked Blue]

1. This is how republican crazies communicate

"leave their turds at “prominent points in their home range, such as around a rock or a log, to communicate with each other.” "

[CentralMass]

2. Lately I think that some of them are sh...ng bricks.

[Harker]

3. What a coincidence...

I was just thinking about wombat feces.

[Bayard]

4. It keeps me up at night

[Harker]

5. Maybe there's a support group. n/t

[Wicked Blue]

14. Like kudzu, it grows on you nt

[Harker]

16. A rolling stone

gathers no wombat poop.

[niyad]

6. I find it reassuring to know that other important scientific research continues in these global

crises.

[Ziggysmom]

7. Before reading the article I thought those were Repube eggs!

[2naSalit]

8. At first glance, I thought they were over-toasted marshmallows!

[sakabatou]

9. This may get an Ignobel Award

[Wounded Bear]

10. The original shitters of bricks...

[Stuart G]

12. One of the most incredible aspects of DU..."You never know what you will read about there"

Here we have it:.....The poop of Wambats

[IcyPeas]

13. great ice-breaker at your next party

[Harker]

17. Work great as briquettes at your BBQ. n/t

[airplaneman]

15. Shit n/t.

[Ron Obvious]

18. Thank goodness! This has been keeping me awake for years!

Or maybe it was something else.