Art, design, travel, food, and other good things in life.
Next time you’re bored, go to Wikipedia and type in ‘flatulence’. It’s fascinating. Not only is the content full of facts you never knew, never really wanted to know, and always wondered about, but the writing is very objective.
The primary constituents of flatulence (collectively known as flatus)
are the non-odorous gases nitrogen (ingested), oxygen (ingested), methane (produced by anaerobic microbes), carbon dioxide (produced by aerobic microbes or ingested), and hydrogen (produced by some microbes and consumed by others). Odors result from trace amounts of other constituents (see below).
The noises commonly associated with flatulence are caused not by a flapping of the butt cheeks as commonly thought but by the vibration of the anal opening. The sound varies depending on the tightness of the sphincter muscle and velocity of the gas being propelled.
Lighting farts is the practice of igniting the gases produced by flatulence. It is practised primarily among young men, but discouraged for its potential for causing injury.
Farts consist largely of flammable methane gas. Lighting such gas can result in burns or explosions. Clothing and/or hair may catch fire or sensitive tissues can be damaged.
Such experiments are common among young men on camping trips or in single-sex group residences such as dormitories or fraternity houses, but the flammability of bodily gases has caused serious problems in the operating room and also in slaughterhouses.
At least one patient is known to have exploded while undergoing cauterization of a rectal polyp. An electric spark ignited the patient’s intestinal gases, resulting in a six-inch (15-cm) hole in the patient’s large intestine. However, this was sewn up, and the patient recovered