• About
  • Contact
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
No Result
View All Result
Londoner News
  • Home
  • London
  • Britain
  • Europe
  • America
  • International
  • Submit Article
  • Other
    • Health
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Science
  • Home
  • London
  • Britain
  • Europe
  • America
  • International
  • Submit Article
  • Other
    • Health
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Science
No Result
View All Result
Londoner News
No Result
View All Result
Home Tech

Wombats’ cube poo mystery may have been solved

by The Editor
November 19, 2018
in Tech
0
Wombats’ cube poo mystery may have been solved
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Wombats are curious creatures. Chubby and short-legged, the marsupials are unusual even before you consider their unique ability to produce cube-shaped poo.

Now, scientists in the US may have discovered how and why the phenomenon occurs.

Dr Patricia Yang, a fluid hydrodynamics specialist from Georgia Institute of Technology, has a particular interest in studying how blood, food and urine move within animals' bodies.

She and her colleagues found that wombats' digestive processes and soft tissue structures produce the unusual shape.

"The first thing that drove me to this is that I have never seen anything this weird in biology. That was a mystery," said Dr Yang.

"I didn't even believe it was true at the beginning. I Googled it and saw a lot about cube-shaped wombat poop, but I was sceptical."

Image: The elastic properties of wombats' intestinal walls allows for unique shape . Pic: Georgia Tech

The team began its investigation with the carcasses of wombats that had been euthanised after car collisions in Tasmania, Australia.

They discovered that near the end of a wombat's intestine the faeces transformed from liquid-like states to solid states made of small separated cubes.

They concluded that the elastic properties of wombats' intestinal walls allowed for the cube formation – which, they suggest, has evolutionary benefits.

Wombats pile their faeces to mark their territory and to communicate with one another through scent. This is partially because they have quite poor eye sight.

The more prominent a faeces pile is, the more visually distinctive it is to other wombats – and therefore it is very important that their droppings don't roll away.

Dr Yang said: "We can learn from wombats and hopefully apply this novel method to our manufacturing process. We can understand how to move this stuff in a very efficient way."

Scott Carver, the Australian counterpart to the US team who acquired the wombat intestinal specimens, said: "There is much general interest from the public, both in Australia and internationally, about how and why wombats create cube-shaped faeces.

More from Australia

"Many ideas, some more entertaining than others, have been put forward to explain this, but until this study nobody had ever investigated the cause.

"This has been a fantastic collaboration which shows the value of interdisciplinary research for making new scientific discoveries."

Original Article

[contf] [contfnew]

Sky News

[contfnewc] [contfnewc]

The Editor

Next Post
Zholia Alemi: Foreign doctor checks after fake psychiatrist case

Zholia Alemi: Foreign doctor checks after fake psychiatrist case

Recommended

Type 2 diabetes: NHS to offer 800-calorie diet treatment

Type 2 diabetes: NHS to offer 800-calorie diet treatment

6 years ago
Trade setup: Nifty still not out of the woods; 10,650 level remains key

Trade setup: Nifty still not out of the woods; 10,650 level remains key

7 years ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    About Us

    We bring you the best Premium WordPress Themes that perfect for news, magazine, personal blog, etc. Check our landing page for details.

    Category

    • America
    • Britain
    • Entertainment
    • Europe
    • Health
    • International
    • latest news
    • London
    • Markets
    • Science
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Uncategorized
    • Women

    Site Links

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
    • About
    • Contact

    © 2020 londonernews

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Science
    • Travel
    • Tech
    • Health

    © 2020 londonernews