Wombat poop: Scientists reveal mystery behind cube-shaped droppings (2018) | Hacker News Reader

Wombat poop: Scientists reveal mystery behind cube-shaped droppings (2018)

bbc.com

42 pointspm2460116 comments

> "It would be a cool method to apply to the manufacturing process," she suggested, "how to make a cube with soft tissue instead of just moulding it."

I know there's pressure for everyone to argue that their research has practical applications, and this one's probably a long shot, but it would be so cool and hilarious if this ends up being useful.

Q: How do you refuel the solid rocket boosters on Mars? A: Well first, let me tell you something interesting about wombats...

I'm not one who'd put pressure on science to prioritize focus on what industry finds useful (which adds opportunity for bias in funding).

Instead I was hoping this article would shed light on why in (vulgar) slang we say "sh... bricks". The opportunity for a bad pun here was lost by the author, the researchers, and everyone commenting on twitter so far.

The Register used it back in 2018: https://www.theregister.com/2018/11/19/wombat_cube_poo_demys...

This article is from 2018. Coincidentally, about a week back, I heard this on the Curiosity Daily Podcast[1].

1. https://www.curiositydaily.com/why-do-wombats-poop-cubes/

> We opened those intestines up like it was Christmas

No-context quote of the year?

Strangely, I'm pretty sure I've read or heard before that wombats have triangular sphincters, and that determines the shitshape.

Also:

> The marsupial then stacks the cubes - the higher the better

Now that must be quite a cartoonish performance.

(Judging by YouTube's search suggestion, I'm not the only one to take interest in seeing this acrobatic act—however the search results are disappointing.)

I like the way your mind works. (-:

> Despite having round anuses like other mammals, wombats do not produce round pellets, tubular coils or messy piles.

Can't wait for artificial rectums to produce cube shaped pellets of stuff for me!

No but in all seriousness, it's truly fascinating how nature created it and what we might be able to learn from it. Wombat poop always makes for an interesting topic.

As another commenter pointed out, this needs a (2018) in the title. More recent results continued to find out more, looking if the anus shape plays a role [0].

[0] https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/01/its-the-wombats-stra...

Is this the inspiration for the Donald Duck story "Lost in the Andes" where the hens lay square eggs.

Google: donald duck square eggs

If there was one damn thing which deserved to stay a mystery this was it, there is no magic left in the world.

> "We opened those intestines up like it was Christmas," said co-author David Hu

He must be fun at parties. ;-)

> The marsupial then stacks the cubes - the higher the better so as to communicate with and attract other wombats.

If I was a comedian who specialized in toilet humor (and let's face it - I totally would), I would either quit my job because of this sentence, or (if I was good at it), I would turn it into my next standup routine. I probably could just read the article verbatim and get a few laughs, assuming the audience was not openly hostile.

Just to be clear, I think this is very interesting, and absolutely a valid area of research. But it is rather funny as well.

EDIT: Now I wonder - what do wombats try to communicate by stacking poop? This seems like a very existentialist thing to do.

Its a quirk of human beings that certain research topics are neglected because of their proximity to humor. Whether its the hydrodynamics of the penis, or the musculature of the vagina, or the mechanics of excretion. Unless its funny, we reject whole areas of investigation as unworthy or repulsive.

There are so many urine tests I can't count them. But how many over-the-counter poop tests are there? Maybe one. Because, you know, its disgusting.

Serious and funny - to me - are not mutually exclusive. The idea of wombats stacking their poop is very funny, but if I was a biologist, that would make me want to investigate the matter even more.

During my Zivildienst (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zivildienst), I had lots of contact with all kinds of things leaving the human digestive tract. You get used to it surprisingly quickly, as long as you have and endless supply of rubber gloves and disinfectant. OTOH, the revulsion feces inspire in most humans serves a purpose, evolution-wise, so finding a middle ground would be rather difficult.

But just try to get funding.

> what do wombats try to communicate by stacking poop?

According to Wikipedia, it's to mark the territory.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com