Tag: research

Are you ready for smart underwear?

Some researchers have invented smart underwear that monitors your flatulence. Side note: This conversation could go a couple of different ways, so let’s explore both! 🙂

On the serious side, this is actually helpful. Scientists can learn a lot about people’s gut health based on their flatulence, and up until now it was difficult to study. It has been attempted, but it involved “extremely invasive techniques”, and the less said about that the better! Now, with smart underwear, people can easily submit information about their microbiomes to scientists. It contributes to a research study called the Human Flatus Atlas. It tracks the amount of farts per day and the hydrogen content. Did you know your toots are made of mostly hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen? Methane is also in the mix, but less common.

The first group test with this new underwear included 19 healthy participants, and it found that the average number of farts per day was 32, ranging from 4 to a maximum of 59. While 59 is a rather large number of farts for one day, I had a college roommate who once passed gas over 100 times in a day. It was so excessive that he actually counted them. And I believe him, because I unfortunately had to witness some of that. I don’t know what he ate to enable that superpower.

Someone had told me about this smart underwear, so I searched for info on it, and one headline said, “Everyone does this. But how much is too much? Scientists want to know.” The article started out with: “Whether you call it breaking wind, sounding the trumpet, or cutting the cheese, everyone farts. But how much gas is too much? The short answer: no one knows – yet.” It’s safe to say that 100+ is too much for one day. Not only was something unusual going on with their health, but probably everyone around them!

Is this topic gross? To some, yes. But as another article said:

Whether you’re breaking wind, farting hard or just letting out a quick toot, flatulence is — whether you want to admit it or not — as much a daily necessity as breathing.

So while it is necessary, some people don’t like to talk about it. That’s fine. If you are one of those, you should probably not finish the rest of this post. You have been warned. 🙂

On the lighter side, this invention could be used for fun! For people who enjoy farting, there could be a competition setting. Someone could create a way for friends to have a leaderboard. The results could be uploaded to a shared site or sent via text. The smart underwear could track the number of times, the loudest volume, and the most stank. Obviously this isn’t for everyone, but I guarantee there are some people who would enjoy making it competitive.

Changing Daylight Saving Time Might Reduce Obesity

I knew it was because of Daylight Saving Time that I’m overweight! I just knew it! Okay, perhaps that’s a slight embellishment. My slightly-more-than-ideal weight might be partly due to what I eat and how much (or not much) I exercise. But according to a new study at Stanford University, if our government gets rid of Daylight Saving Time, it could provide incredible health benefits:

The researchers estimate that permanent standard time would prevent about 300,000 cases of stroke per year and reduce the number of people with obesity by 2.6 million, compared to biannual changes. Permanent daylight saving time would also be positive, although with a smaller impact.

So it’s the changing of time that matters, and to some degree, having more daylight. So apparently even if the government never changes the system officially, one could just ignore the time change and be less fat. Works for me! I could switch my sleep habits an hour if that helps me be less overweight. That would surely be easier than eating healthy and exercising more! 🙂

So far I’m having fun with this. However, it is an actual scientific study, and they used mathematical models to simulate this, trying to find the impact of time policies on light exposure and circadian rhythm (your body’s internal clock). But I’m skeptical. Normally I’m all for the use of math and the scientific method, but I think those numerical claims are vastly exaggerated. There might be a real benefit — I’m not arguing that — but preventing 2,600,000 cases of obesity? Whatever.

If we’re not going to change Daylight Saving Time, I’ve got some ideas to improve it, which I’ve discussed before: a better way to fix Daylight Savings Time. Most people would be for one of those plans, I think, but so far it has been ignored.

As far as reducing obesity in America (which is a big problem), I wish changing the clock would be a solution. But I think the best solution is still eating less and exercising more. That strategy is no secret, but perhaps we need a fresh approach to promoting it… (I have an idea, which will be in a future post.)

The International Day of Happiness

Happy happy day!

Today, March 20, is the International Day of Happiness. So, obviously, you should try to be happy today. 🙂

Funny conversations are usually better in-person.

Whether or not you choose to participate is up to you. We might think we want other people to make us happy, but really, they can’t, nor do you want to be dependent on other people to be happy. Or, even if we don’t expect them to, we might blame other people and circumstances when we aren’t happy. And while everything around us is an influence on our mood, the good news is that we are in control of our own happiness.

Research has shown that what happens to us makes up only about 20 percent of our happiness. The rest depends on our expectations and the narrative we tell ourselves to explain our life, both of which you can control. A full discussion on that is way beyond the scope of this post and this blog, but there is a series of blog posts on how to find happiness, if you want to learn more about it and improve your life. (It’s still a work in progress, but I know what’s coming and recommend it.)

So, what will you do today to be happy? Even if your schedule is full and you’re too busy, there’s opportunity to enjoy life where you’re at. Talk to someone who spreads humor, listen to music you enjoy, take a 5 minute dance break, go for a walk outside, relax for a few minutes when you normally wouldn’t, sit in the sun (or the shade) for a few minutes, eat a cookie, read a good book (or this blog), savor a glass of sweet tea, etc.

Remember, your happiness is up to you. So if you want to be happy, do something about it.

brewing tea reduces heavy metals from water

glass of sweet, iced tea, plate of fried chicken and sides

You really don’t need any extra reasons to drink tea other than it tasting good. Having a glass of sweet tea is a great experience and makes your day better. But fortunately, tea is good for you in numerous ways, like providing antioxidants. This is already known.

New research has shown that brewing tea reduces heavy metals like lead and cadmium from the water, making it safer for you. That’s convenient! A quote from the article:

“Across a population, if people drink an extra cup of tea per day, maybe over time we’d see declines in illnesses that are closely correlated with exposure to heavy metals. Or it could help explain why populations that drink more tea may have lower incidence rates of heart disease and stroke than populations that have lower tea consumption.”

If it makes me healthier to drink an extra cup of tea per day, I can do that!

It’s nice to hear good news once in a while…