Feedback: A weekly column brimming with quirky stories, outlandish advertising claims, and perplexing instructions.

The Physics of Defecation

News Editor Alexandra Thompson of the University of Amsterdam explains the intriguing origin of the poop emoji — Hoe de poep-emoji zijn vorm kreeg, which translates to “how the poop emoji got its shape.”

For those unfamiliar with emojis beyond smileys, the poop emoji stands out. It’s typically depicted as a conical mound resembling coiled feces. Emojipedia describes it in a relatable manner, comparing it to “soft serve ice cream.” However, during this heat wave, that imagery takes on a rather unsavory twist.

If you watched the 2017 animated film The Emoji Movie, you might recall the poop emoji as a notable character, voiced by none other than Patrick Stewart, known for his Stentorian delivery.

A recent study published in Nature Communications in April explores the physics behind lugworm feces. The authors describe how various animals, including earthworms and some mammals, produce coiled poop, much like the emoji itself. This shape emerges from “the coiling of a ‘rope’ of fluid falling onto a hard surface,” influenced by gravity, inertia, and viscosity.

Remarkably, lugworms defy conventional defecation by ejecting waste upward. They inhabit U-shaped burrows on sandy beaches within the intertidal zone, positioning their anus just below the burrow entrance. At low tide, they expel waste upward, leaving marks on the sandy flat.

Despite their unconventional method, lugworms still produce coiled poop. They accomplish this against the odds of “buckling instability,” indicating their evolutionary mechanism is effective.

Unlike animals that defecate downwards, where the drop height is vital, the coil’s radius is determined solely by material properties and rope shape. The researchers elaborated on this mathematics, noting their model can also explain the curling behavior of other substances, such as rice noodles and spaghetti. The elegance of these findings demonstrates the universe’s remarkable design.

Bayeux Tapestry Queue

The art of queuing and optimizing it for fairness and efficiency presents intriguing mathematical challenges. For example, when a train runs late, should it receive priority—possibly delaying others—or wait? Determining the fairest approach for passengers while maximizing the rail system’s efficiency remains a complex question.

History enthusiast and Managing Editor Kelsey Hayes recently faced a virtual queue while attempting to access early ticket sales for the British Museum’s Bayeux Tapestry exhibit, scheduled to run for the first time in the UK in 900 years. Kelsey, a museum member, received an email in early June promoting pre-sales two weeks before the general public.

The email urged her to “register to reserve” a spot, leading Kelsey to comment on the seemingly pointless exercise. However, she soon encountered an online queue with “over 1,400 people and a 20-minute wait.”

This exercise was a tactic to ensure members organized their login details to prevent registration or password issues later. If you know Kelsey or Feedback, waiting 20 minutes to reset passwords is not typical.

Two weeks later, when member reservations became available, Kelsey reported, “It took us four hours in line to secure a time slot.” She would be furious to discover that likely the Bayeux Tapestry wasn’t crafted in a bayou, nor is it technically a tapestry.

Not My Bag

Feedback often pokes fun at hubris, so we’re excited to present news of a bag made from a patented substance known as “T-Rex Leather.” However, it didn’t sell at the Paris auction in June. Initially expected to fetch over $500,000, the bid ultimately fell short.

This unique bag was likely produced using preserved collagen from a Tyrannosaurus rex femur, but here’s the catch: true leather is derived from the animal’s skin, and this “T-Rex Leather” did not come from a Tyrannosaurus skin.

Collagen is the primary protein found in skin, but recreating Tyrannosaurus skin entails an intact Tyrannosaurus genome to grow skin cells. Unfortunately, the oldest preserved DNA is only 2 million years old, while Tyrannosaurus went extinct 66 million years ago.

Without the DNA or a complete genome, growing Tyrannosaurus skin cells is impossible. While we can speculate this bag’s failure to sell may relate to its questionable provenance, we can’t overlook the likelihood that its outdated color played a significant role.

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