print friendly version

By Dr Karl

Farts are such an embarrassing concept in the English language, that we do not even have a verb for them. Instead we simply use the noun as a verb. However, thanks to my medical training, I can handle such concepts without embarrassment.

The aim of this series of articles, taken from my book Begone With The Wind, is to show that farting is indeed a serious scientific matter! So we'll be looking in more detail at:
The magnificent fart
Fart research
Beanz make you fart
Gases in the gut
What smells in fart gas
Defarterising food

The magnificent fart
The average fart is a wondrous event. Let me demonstrate with a little experiment. Link the fingers of your two hands tightly together to make a little cup. Imagine that in the cup of your hands you have some water, some floating solids and some gas. Imagine the whole system is under pressure. Now try to open one of your fingers in such a way that you release only the gas, without letting any solid or liquid squirt out.

I really doubt that any device made by the human race could do this task, and keep on doing it for some 70 years. This is the magnificent job that your anal sphincter does some 10 times per day, without fail.

The magnificent fart | Fart research | Beanz make you fart | Gases & bacteria in the gut | What smells in fart gas? | Strange but true