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Comment by clort | Hacker News Reader

The rectum is an interesting place. You can apparently also absorb water there, if you are severely dehydrated and unable to hold anything down (eg seasick). All you need, the saying goes, is a funnel and a friend..

full disclosure: I've not tried that!

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These people spent 37 days in a 9ft dinghy in the ocean. A ladder rung, plus the rain water mixed with turtle guts from the bottom of the boat saved their lives.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/22/shipwre...

"What kept them going was grit, determination and turtle blood. "You have to knock it back quickly, otherwise it sets into blancmange," Douglas explains. Plus it's got an "aftertaste that makes you want to wretch". Their mother rubbed turtle oil on the salt-water boils, and tried to keep them all hydrated with makeshift enema tubes made from the rungs of a ladder. "It was her nursing background. She knew the water at the bottom of the dinghy was poisonous if taken orally because it was a mixture of rain water, blood and turtle offal. But if you take it rectally, the poison doesn't go through the digestive system."

Unbelievable!

Ah, those nurses.

Tangent time: Florence Nightingale was an early pioneer (maybe the first?) of data-driven medical policies.

She grew up in a time when women hit a ceiling pretty quickly, despite being extremely competent and in her case mathematically gifted.

Works for alcohol too; keyword "butt chug". Can result in alcohol poisoning if you dose too much.

Works for other drugs too, it's known as boofing.

> Works for other drugs too, it's known as boofing.

isn't that slang for anal sex

Nah, according to a current supreme court judge, to boof is simply to pass gas.

Minority ruling from a lower court.

Or "plugging" if we are talking about other drugs.

> The insertion or other voluntary introduction of foreign matter into the anus or vaginal cavity for the sole purpose of recreational misuse (or use) of said item/substance. Similar to butt chugging, with the exception of using non-liquidous matter instead of alcoholic beverages.

Bear Grylls (I know) - showed that you can "drink" unsafe water by using funnel and a friend.

Not sure if this is accurate, it's a show after all, but it doesn't seem too crazy.

I’m sure a plastic water bottle and a few yoga poses will suffice, go for it!

Your anus is not actually just a hole you can just pour things into. It seals itself. A funnel is of the essence when trying to pour liquids into the rectal cavity.

Sounds useful for Ebola patients. Dehydration is apparently the thing that kills you the fastest. However, it could be very hazardous to your (very loving) friend.

That's what PPE is for.

We're pouring liquids into our butts right? What's the friend for? Can't one do that on their own?

It's really easier with a friend, especially the reach-around part.

Your comment is hilarious. I had the same question. Thanks.

Does this mean you can absorb electrolytes from swimming in the ocean?

Indeed! Fecal transplants are fascinating in their results too.

I have heard, from some corny Discovery Channel survival show, that the bottom can filter out salt from the water. So if you're surrounded by ocean with no fresh water, the bottom is the place to go.

Wouldn’t the water seek isotonic equilibrium by moving to the side of the membrane with higher salt concentration? I don’t think that would work in your body’s favor.

Depends on which ocean you find yourself stranded. In the Mediterranean, don't even think about it. The Baltic sea, on the other hand, seems to be quite aenema-friendly.

[Annual mean sea surface salinity for the World Ocean] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinity#/media/File:WOA09_sea...

7000 ppm for the N Baltic vs 35000 ppm for average sea water.

The limit for safe drinking water is 1000 ppm.

The salinity of blood is about 9000 ppm.

Drinking it from either end isn't advisable because the osmotic gradient wouldn't transport water it in very fast. It would be safe-ish but not hydrating.

Absolutely not. Osmotic gradient. This is another reason not to watch TV and spend more time reading trustworthy sources.

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