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The explosive physics of pooping penguins: they can shoot poo over four feet:
Nature is a brutal place, so during brooding, chinstrap and Adélie penguins are reluctant to leave their eggs unguarded in the nest—even to relieve themselves. But one also does not wish to sully the nest with feces. So instead, a brooding penguin will hunker down, point its rear end away from the nest, lift its tail, and let fly a projectile of poo—thereby ensuring both the safety of the eggs and the cleanliness of the nest.
Back in 2003, two intrepid physicists became fascinated by this behavior and were inspired to calculate the answer to a burning question: just how much pressure can those penguins generate to propel their feces away from the edge of their nests? Answer: about three times more pressure than a human could produce. That paper earned them a 2005 Ig Nobel Prize and lasting glory among those obsessed with pooping penguins. Now, a pair of a Japanese scientists has weighed in on the matter, calculating the projectile trajectory of expelled feces and recalculating the rectal pressure. These scientists reported on their findings in a draft paper they posted to the physics arXiv.
[...] In this latest paper, Hiroyuki Tajima of Kochi University and Fumiya Fujisawa of the Katsurahama Aquarium in Kochi, Japan, note that the original 2003 paper did not take the projectile trajectory of the penguin feces into account. Instead, it focused on a horizontal distance. Tajima and Fujisawa argue that the angle of ejection is not always horizontal, especially if the breeding environment is in a higher location—or if the penguin is standing on a rock while defecating, for instance.
Using Newton's equations, they calculated that the maximum flying distance of penguin poo is 1.34 meters, or 4.39 feet. Tajima and Fujisawa also revisited the question of the rectal pressure required to achieve such a trajectory and found it would be a bit higher than the original estimation. They noted, however, that their simplified equations did not account for the hydrodynamics of feces in the air and in the stomach, "which are left for future work."
Journal Reference:
Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow, Jozsef Gal. Pressures produced when penguins pooh, Polar Biology (DOI: 10.1007/s00300-003-0563-3)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday July 05 2020, @07:46AM (1 child)
for this year's IgNobel prize [wikipedia.org] I reckon...
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday July 05 2020, @07:48AM
Hmm nevermind, they already won it.
Should read TFA...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @08:11AM
Please see the previous Fine Article's comments. Not sure it's a penguin, but it is fast and furiously flinging poo!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @08:24AM
COVID-19 is deadlier than penguin shit.
COVID-19 wins.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @08:36AM (1 child)
Who the hell has been feeding the penguins Taco Bell?!?!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @02:31PM
There has been Taco Bell in antartica for years now, next door to the chinese takeout joint.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @11:27AM (1 child)
He spews shit over the entire globe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @08:41AM
This should be +5 truthful
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @01:45PM (1 child)
Never ever sneeze when you have diarrhea.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @03:51PM
Or if you're in the shower with some other dude.
https://youtu.be/YGiWnNKEtSo [youtu.be]
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2020, @02:56PM
Who let such an infantile title through the editing process?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @12:14AM
Don't have your babies within poo-shot of your neighbor.
(Score: 2) by Muad'Dave on Monday July 06 2020, @01:35PM
Only four feet? That's only two penguins. I bet they could hit 10 penguins given how tightly they cluster together. /s
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @04:07PM
"Life, uh, finds a way..."