Having had a kidney stone and having captured it for diagnosis in a piss filter I can guarantee that they really aren't that interesting. Just looks like a tiny little pebble you might find in your shoe. They also hurt. A LOT. As in the kind of pain that made me think, "I am going to just keep yelling until somebody does something to stop this pain."

Seriously, what is the point of this Times article anyway? It's like let's write a big long article about something that means absolutely nothing to anyone and is of zero practical importance except trying to reenforce the dubious idea that good things come out of human suffering.