How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/how-do-wombats-poop-cubes-scientists-get-bottom-mystery

by sohkamyung • 5 years ago

21 6 5 years ago

jld• 5 years ago

As for what the world is supposed to do with this new information, Hu admits that it’s “not going to replace the way we manufacture plastic.” But the wombat’s strategy could help engineers design better ways to shape valuable or sensitive materials, he says.

I am amused that every researcher is asked to defend how their research will help industry, as if there is no value in the pursuit of knowledge that has no known application. No one starts studying wombat poop because they are hoping that they can someday make some industrial process 1% more efficient.

exabrial• 5 years ago

How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists square off to find the root of the mystery

Come on, missed the perfect pun

jojobas• 5 years ago

I think "bottom" was just as intentional.

sradman• 5 years ago

In the new study, the researchers dissected two further wombats and tested the guts’ layers of muscle and tissue, finding regions of varied thickness and stiffness. They then created a 2D mathematical model to simulate how the regions expand and contract with the rhythms of digestion. The intestinal sections contract over several days, squeezing the poop as the gut pulls nutrients and water out of the feces, the team reports today in the aptly titled journal Soft Matter.

The paper, Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces [1]:

Increased stiffness ratio and higher Reynolds number yield shapes that are more square. The corners arise from faster contraction in the stiff regions and relatively slower movement in the center of the soft regions.

[1] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/sm/d0sm0...

pochamago• 5 years ago

Hu speculates that because the animals climb up on rocks and logs to mark their territory, the flat-sided feces aren’t as likely to roll off from these high perches.

Why in the world would this be a preferable adaptation?

bobsmooth• 5 years ago

Wombats use poop to mark territory. A wombat with more stable poop will be better able to mark its territory and ward off competitors. It's a beautiful bit of evolution for one specific mammal in this one specific environment.

How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery

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