Join scientists Phil Smyth and Julie Gould as they dive in to your mouth and follow your dinner to see how it gets turned into farts!
In this episode of the Let's Dive In, the RTÉjr Radio science show, we literally dive in to your mouths and follow the progress of your dinner.
They explain how it’s turned from the food that you see on your plate to the farts and poop that come out of your bum.
Tune in to RTÉjr Radio at 7pm this evening or press play above now!
Nova, aged 5 1/2 asks "how the air that comes out of your bum get in there in the first place?"
This question was asked by several of our listeners - thanks so much! We now clearly know what you want to find out more about!
We speak to Mary Roach, the award winning author of Gulp: Adventures of the Alimentary Canal about how your food is broken down in your mouth, then some more in your stomach, and then even more in your intestines. And finally, once we get to the end of the canal, we learn about how farts are made.
We also learn that there are different types of fart (who knew!?). Of course, the Silent But Deadly, or SBD, is a classic. But even medical text books have a classification list.
This particular list was first printed in the 14th edition of the Merck Manual, and it cracked us both up when we read it out loud HERE!
"Flatulence, which can cause great psychosocial distress, is unofficially described according to its salient characteristics:
The "slider" (crowded elevator type), which is released slowly and noiselessly, sometimes with devastating effect
The open sphincter, or "pooh" type, which is said to be of higher temperature and more aromatic
The staccato or drumbeat type, pleasantly passed in privacy
The "bark" type (described in a personal communication) is characterized by a sharp exclamatory eruption that effectively interrupts (and often concludes) conversation (aromaticity is not a prominent feature)"
So, dear listeners, we want to know what your fart classifications are! Do you have special names for the different farts you, or your family members do?
Let us know by sharing your tables, graphs, charts, even drawings on social media using #LetsDiveIn.
We’d love to hear (and not smell!) what you have!
Our biggest take away from this episode however, is this lesson from Mary - "The fart should be respected." Hear, hear!
Make sure to subscribe HERE or wherever you get your podcasts!
AND read all the articles from Series One HERE!
