WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Squarer Than Wombat Poop

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<v Speaker 1>Ahoy, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh. There's

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<v Speaker 1>chuck and this is short stuff about wombats. Is that

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<v Speaker 1>the sound they make? I know? But it is for

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<v Speaker 1>people who live outside of Australia. Okay, Well, this short

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<v Speaker 1>stuff came about just from our recording two days ago

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<v Speaker 1>on which one was that in? Was that in the appendix? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>Appendix because we talked about digestion and pooping. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>you said something about wombats having square poop and I

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<v Speaker 1>was like what you were like yeah, and you, because

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<v Speaker 1>you're in front of my face, you showed me a

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<v Speaker 1>picture which was amazing. Didn't even maybe you texted it

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<v Speaker 1>to me too, because you're so used to doing that.

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<v Speaker 1>And I said, we should do with short stuff on

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<v Speaker 1>this and we are two days later, by god, and

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<v Speaker 1>we're doing it. We are we're talking about square poop,

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<v Speaker 1>square poop, square square poop. There, let's start to say

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<v Speaker 1>yeah and something else and it came out weird there there?

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<v Speaker 1>What's going on? I don't know? I will say this

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<v Speaker 1>though this after researching this, this really clears up that

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<v Speaker 1>old saying that I had heard since I was a

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<v Speaker 1>kid that had never got which is that guy as

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<v Speaker 1>square as wombat. I guess I've not heard that before.

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<v Speaker 1>You never heard that? Have you really heard that somebody

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<v Speaker 1>say that? Yeah, like some you know, you'll see some

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<v Speaker 1>nerd that guy is square as wombat. I was like,

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<v Speaker 1>what does that even mean? You just keep saying that. Huh.

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<v Speaker 1>I love it. I think we should start it. I

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<v Speaker 1>just made it up today, Okay. So regardless of all

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<v Speaker 1>these phrases, there's there's really only one animal on the

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<v Speaker 1>planet that poops in cubes, and that is the wombat.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think in particular the bear knows wombat, which

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<v Speaker 1>are by the way, chuck about is cute as they come. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>Australia has got two things. They have animals that will

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<v Speaker 1>kill you dead and animals that you only want to hug. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>but sometimes I will kill you dead too, Yes, exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>That's that's the great thing about Australia. So these the wombats,

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<v Speaker 1>they're they're used described as stout. They're very thick, they

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<v Speaker 1>have short legs, but they're really powerful and they'd use

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<v Speaker 1>them to dig. They have long claws that they used

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<v Speaker 1>to dig subterranean burrows in and their cousins of the

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<v Speaker 1>koala and they kind of look like they look a

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<v Speaker 1>bit like a cross between a koala and a little

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<v Speaker 1>tiny bear, a stuffed animal, if we're basically, But I

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<v Speaker 1>suspect that because of those sharp clause you don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to get between a mama wombat and her baby wombat,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what I'm saying. Yeah, And they're also bigger

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<v Speaker 1>than I thought. For some reason, I thought wombats were

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<v Speaker 1>fairly small, but they weigh up to seventy seven pounds

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<v Speaker 1>or thirty five kilograms if you're in Australia. And uh,

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<v Speaker 1>they're pretty territorial, but they do share their space with

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<v Speaker 1>their friends. They is very cute. They will mark their

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<v Speaker 1>um trails and stuff with scent and those little cube

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<v Speaker 1>shape poops which I don't think we even mentioned yet.

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<v Speaker 1>They poop out a hundred six sided turds every single day. Man,

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<v Speaker 1>you use the T word, I mean, is that a

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<v Speaker 1>bad word? It's not bad, it's just it's one of

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<v Speaker 1>my most hated words of all. Well, it looks even

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<v Speaker 1>grosser spelled out for something. Everything about it is terrible.

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<v Speaker 1>It even itself even looks brown somehow, I'm not sure how,

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<v Speaker 1>but it does. Everything about it is wrong. Oh, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if I should say this now, I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>gonna say this. Go ahead, Okay, are we going to

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<v Speaker 1>leave that in there? Yeah, let's leave it in. And

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<v Speaker 1>people would be like, oh, man, but you said it's

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<v Speaker 1>six sided t words, all right, so it looks like

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<v Speaker 1>they look vaguely like dice. And and even if you're like,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I guess it's a cube, it's not a

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<v Speaker 1>perfect cube. Look at your poop and then look at

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<v Speaker 1>wombat poop and see which one's closer to cube like,

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<v Speaker 1>and you're gonna say, oh, yeah, definitely the wombat. And

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<v Speaker 1>then if you stop and say, well, wait a minute,

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<v Speaker 1>the wombat is is the only animal on the planet

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<v Speaker 1>that poops cubes. This is kind of weird and maybe

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<v Speaker 1>worth investigating. And for a long time, no one wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to kill a wombat to dissect it and figure out

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<v Speaker 1>what was going on in there, so we just basically

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<v Speaker 1>walked around and said it must have something of a

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<v Speaker 1>square shaped rectum. I guess that's it. That's gonna solve

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<v Speaker 1>the thing. Well, yeah, but I think the very first

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<v Speaker 1>thing that someone did was look, you know, on the

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<v Speaker 1>on the hind quarters and say, no, that as round

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<v Speaker 1>as round can be. Yeah, I think they were expecting

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<v Speaker 1>one of those Platos squeezed through shapes, you know what

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<v Speaker 1>I'm talking about. But they're like, it's it's a star,

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<v Speaker 1>it's an octagon, you know. It was just a normal

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<v Speaker 1>size um round bottom hole. Yeah, and anus. I think

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<v Speaker 1>a researcher even put his finger in there just to

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<v Speaker 1>make sure. He's like, no, it's round. Oh gosh, there

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<v Speaker 1>we go. I think we should. Oh yes, you're the

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<v Speaker 1>guy who said turns and now you're suddenly grossed out.

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<v Speaker 1>Well you say bottom hole. Then he said, put his

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<v Speaker 1>finger in right, put his finger in the momp at bottom.

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<v Speaker 1>After thirteen years, I never know where you're gonna fall. So, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>that's great. I like to keep you on your toes.

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<v Speaker 1>And here's another one for everybody out there. This is

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<v Speaker 1>gonna keep you on your toes. We're going to add

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<v Speaker 1>break all right. The first study was looking under that

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<v Speaker 1>tail and they said, nope, it's round and it's an anus.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not a Plato machine. The second test they did,

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<v Speaker 1>like you said, they didn't want to kill him. They

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<v Speaker 1>found one that was hit by a car at the

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<v Speaker 1>University of Tasmania and Dr Scott Carver said, you know

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<v Speaker 1>what I'm I'm treating these or I'm looking into reading

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<v Speaker 1>mange disease and wombats. Anyway, so let me dissect this thing.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me look at the intestines, and holy moly, they

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<v Speaker 1>have a couple of grooves in their intestines where they're

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<v Speaker 1>a little more elastic than the rest. And that was

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<v Speaker 1>in eighteen and I think a couple of years later

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<v Speaker 1>is when they did a further test, right, yeah, at

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<v Speaker 1>our own Georgia Tech down the street. Was that a tech? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>David Who or Hugh biomechanics researcher at Georgia Tech. UM

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<v Speaker 1>lad this the second American group UM into wombat intestines

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<v Speaker 1>and why wombat poop is square. They don't mention that

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<v Speaker 1>David Who and his UM team waited for a wombat

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<v Speaker 1>to get hit by a car like the Australian researchers.

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<v Speaker 1>It just says they dissected to wombats, So probably best

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<v Speaker 1>not to ask too many questions around that. Well. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>how did they get a wombat in Atlanta? Exactly? They

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<v Speaker 1>were just maybe they had them shipped in and then

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<v Speaker 1>they just kind of pushed them out towards seventy see waits,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, let nature take its course. Yeah, or they

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<v Speaker 1>just picked up the phone and called any Australian number

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<v Speaker 1>and some guy said, I'll get you two wombats. What's

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<v Speaker 1>your what's your address or whatever they call an address.

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<v Speaker 1>That's pretty great. Um. So regardless, they got their hands

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<v Speaker 1>on a couple of wombats, may have been alive, may not.

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<v Speaker 1>We're not quite sure exactly what happened there. But they

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<v Speaker 1>really focused on the intestines in that elastic part, and

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<v Speaker 1>they found that not only is there a region that's

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<v Speaker 1>more elastic, that's um less constricting in the intestines of

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<v Speaker 1>the wombats than other parts, they also found one part

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<v Speaker 1>that's stiffer than the rest, and that all of this

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<v Speaker 1>weirdness in the intestines takes place in about the last

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<v Speaker 1>sevent of the wombats intestines and that it's here finally

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<v Speaker 1>figured out that the square poop starts to take its shape. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and it happens because I mean, I think, um, the

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<v Speaker 1>stiff portions like a stiff rubber band. Oh, basically, the

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<v Speaker 1>whole thing like a rubber band. The stiff portions are

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<v Speaker 1>like a stiff rubber band, which isn't a thing. I

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<v Speaker 1>hate to break it to David Doo and the softer

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<v Speaker 1>regions are more droopy and kind of hang down, so

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<v Speaker 1>it creates like this wave like action. And the whole

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<v Speaker 1>key to me seems like how slow these forty contractions

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<v Speaker 1>happen to get this poop out? It seems like it's

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<v Speaker 1>just a very slow process and just kind of molds

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<v Speaker 1>it into a little square or yep. I mean, we

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<v Speaker 1>have like a pretty long digestive tract, but the wombats

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<v Speaker 1>and testines are ten times longer than the wombat itself,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's digestion process takes about four times longer than

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<v Speaker 1>the humans. It gets every bit of moisture and water

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<v Speaker 1>out of it, every nutrient it can possibly get, so

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<v Speaker 1>it poops out these very dry, cubed poops. And it

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<v Speaker 1>does that because the digestive process takes so long. But

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<v Speaker 1>the other key to it to chuck is at the

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<v Speaker 1>contractions of moving the poop through the intestines um. In

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<v Speaker 1>basically every other animal on Earth, those contractions and the

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<v Speaker 1>movements are the same everywhere around the intestine. The wombat is,

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<v Speaker 1>as far as we know, the only animal that has

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<v Speaker 1>different sections that move differently at different times UM and

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<v Speaker 1>that's what produces the edges and the squares in the

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<v Speaker 1>shape of the square poop. They finally figured it out.

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<v Speaker 1>It's one of those things where it helps a lot

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<v Speaker 1>if you're a biomechanics researcher, because they they are not

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<v Speaker 1>the best at explaining things, so it's kind of hard

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<v Speaker 1>to get. It's one of the things that you just

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<v Speaker 1>have to say, Oh, the intestines moved differently than other intestines,

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<v Speaker 1>and it has the time to create these sides and shapes. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's almost like a perfect little square compression machine.

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<v Speaker 1>M you know that it's set up to be that way,

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<v Speaker 1>which sort of lends itself to the question like, well,

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<v Speaker 1>why is this happening? Then if it's this perfect little

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<v Speaker 1>machine making these uh, little square poops that frankly look

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<v Speaker 1>quite delicious and edible, um, because they're so dry, it

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<v Speaker 1>looks like a little candy treat or something. It's just

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<v Speaker 1>sunk in what you just said. What you just said,

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<v Speaker 1>wombat poops look delicious? Well they do. It looks like

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<v Speaker 1>a little chocolate confection to me. Uh. I mean, if

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<v Speaker 1>you put one on a bunch of them on a

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<v Speaker 1>plate at a party, I might actually mistake one, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>did you just make air quotes but when you said

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<v Speaker 1>a mistake? Jerk? All right? So uh it lends itself

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<v Speaker 1>to the question like, why is this happening? Why is

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<v Speaker 1>it making these perfect little cube poops? And who has

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<v Speaker 1>an idea that hey, maybe you know, these things poop

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<v Speaker 1>on rocks and tree logs and branches and stuff to

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<v Speaker 1>mark their area and obviously something square will sit better

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe evolutionarily speaking, that's just what happened over the years. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>And I mean his guess is as good as any.

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<v Speaker 1>He's the one who who dissected the wombats and found

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<v Speaker 1>the whole intestine thing. And actually, I mean it makes

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of sense. I haven't heard any rival explanations.

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<v Speaker 1>I should say. No, I mean he got a ignoble prize, right,

0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.360
<v Speaker 1>he definitely did. Um. And he's saying like, I'm a

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<v Speaker 1>biomechanics guy. They he published, by the way, the um

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<v Speaker 1>the article in the journal Soft Matter for real um,

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<v Speaker 1>And he's saying like, there's there's biomechanically speaking, we could

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<v Speaker 1>probably use how the wombats and testines work as some

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<v Speaker 1>sort of model or inspiration for shaping other things. But

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<v Speaker 1>really the most immediate practical application it has is that

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<v Speaker 1>um the dryer and square wombat poop is, the healthier

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<v Speaker 1>the wombat is, so we can be used as a

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<v Speaker 1>measurer standard um in for wombats and kept in captivity. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's like I'm contributing. I don't just go I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not just a wanbat murderer, you know, I'm I'm contributing

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<v Speaker 1>to the greater good. They're just those two. Let's not

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<v Speaker 1>talk about them. Yeah, you just take a bite. You

0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:14.200
<v Speaker 1>got super dry that. That's a healthy wanbat, right, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you pass it around the order tree any milk. By

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<v Speaker 1>the way, it's a little well, it must be pollen season.

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<v Speaker 1>So Chuck just laughed. There's a pregnant pause of awkward silence,

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<v Speaker 1>which means, everybody short. Stuff is that stuff you should know?

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