The more disgusting it is, the more fascinating. And nothing beats dung, yes, your poop. Do you know why it is brown and smelly, and what it is made up of?
#1. Why is our poop brown in color?
Our poop (stool, or dung) is brown color mostly comes from bilirubin, formed by the breakdown of dead red blood cells, which our bodies try to get rid of as waste.
As you may notice our stool may not be brown all the time. For example, green stool can result from rapid transit of feces through the intestines, as in diarrhea. The color can also come from pigments, like a blue-color ice-cream or red chili.
If we get black stool, we have to be careful, because it indicates digested blood in the stool and thus a possible problem in the intestines.
We may be able to find seeds, nuts, corn and beans in the stools as well! These goods have high fiber content and remains undigested.
#2. Why does my stool smell so bad?
Stool stinks because the bacteria that help digest our food produce smelly organic compounds rich in sulfur and nitrogen, same compounds that give fart its "unique" odor.
Meat is richer in sulfides, so yeah, that's probably why your dad's fart is smellier. That's why dogs and cats poop are also smellier than those of cows and goats.
#3. How come some of my poop float and some doesn't?
The 'floaters' have a higher gas content. You can think of it as fart being trapped inside. Poop with a higher fat content will also float.
#4. What is poop made up of?
A typical stool contains 75% water, 10% dead bacteria, 10% fiber, and a mixture of fats (e.g. cholesterol), proteins, inorganic salts, dead cells, and mucus from the lining of the intestine.
The proportion of water depends on the amount of time it stays in the intestine. In case of diarrhea, the stool looks runny because there is little time for water to be absorbed by the intestine. On the other hand, in case of constipation the stool is often very hard.
The dead bacteria are dead micro-organisms which help digesting our food in the intestine.
#5. Why do birds' poop look white and runny?
Birds do not urinate, so the urea extracted by kidneys in mammals goes out with the poop as uric acid. Uric acid dissolves in water easily and thus it comes out as white paste.
#6. Why do dogs (and other animals) eat poop?
Yes. Many animals eat poop on a regular basis: rabbits, rodents, gorillas, many insects' and your favorite dogs!
Although poop is the excreted waste, it often still contains half of the energy of the original food (that's why manure are great fertilizers).
Some plant eaters (herbivores) such as rabbits and rodents, their diet is hard to digest efficiently, and so they have to make two passes at it to get everything out of the meal.
Some animals eat poop because it contains a certain amount of protein. Dogs in particular likes cats' poop. Good idea to have a dog and cat in the same house? Um
#7. What are the uses of poop besides fertilizers?
Dried cow and camel dung was (and is) an important source of fuel because of the high fiber content.
Paper is made from dung of elephant and other plant-eating animals in certain parts of Africa and Asia.
Wolf dung, which creates black, thick smoke when burned, has played an important role in the military defense in ancient China. Sentries stationed on the Great Wall would build up columns of smoke: 1 column indicated a small force was attacking, while 4 column would indicate an army of up to 10,000.
#8. Finally why poop is called poop?
Poop comes from the Old English word poupen or popen, which means fart, and based on the sound of a fart. Have a nice one!
Stephanie writes a daily blog answering questions you can ever think of from kids around the world. Finally, mommy and daddy can take a good break.
Parents and the young-at-hearts, check us out at http://www.momshotline.com Let's learn something new and interesting everyday!
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