NationStates Jolt Archive

What are the greatest mysteries of modern science? Those physical phenomenon that mystify and defy all attempts at explaination?

For me, it's this:

When you eat corn, it comes back out whole in your poop. But when you eat popcorn, it doesn't. Why is that? :confused:

I was going to mention something sub-atomic, but your question has utterly dismissed such trivial ponderings from my mind.

Why indeed? :confused:

What are the greatest mysteries of modern science? Those physical phenomenon that mystify and defy all attempts at explaination?

For me, it's this:

When you eat corn, it comes back out whole in your poop. But when you eat popcorn, it doesn't. Why is that? :confused:

Hm...

Why are you so fond of pies, LG?

That´s a great universal mystery that can be clarified only by you.

nope i'm pretty sure it's this that clinches it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7443866.stm

Why can't women put the toilet seat down?

Hm...

Why are you so fond of pies, LG?

That´s a great universal mystery that can be clarified only by you.

Pie is a nearly perfect creation. Part food, part toy. The combination of textures(filling and crust) and colors is a work of art. The first pie fight is lost in the mists of antiquity, but they have been captured on film almost since the beginning of the motion picture. Laurel and Hardy had a famous one in one of their earliest films.

I love pie. :)

When you eat corn, it comes back out whole in your poop.

It does? Maybe you should try chewing it before you swallow it.

But when you eat popcorn, it doesn't. Why is that? :confused:

It could be that the outer covering on kernels of corn, probably some sort of complex cellulose, is not degradable by the human alimentary system, while the cooked insides of a kernel of popcorn are. Tada!

It does? Maybe you should try chewing it before you swallow it.

I do. I suspect it reassembles itself in the colon. Yet popcorn doesn't. Perhaps the heat of cooking damages the nanoassemblers. *scratches shin thoughtfully*

It could be that the outer covering on kernels of corn, probably some sort of complex cellulose, is not degradable by the human alimentary system, while the cooked insides of a kernel of popcorn are. Tada!

But the kernel-cover remains attached to the popcorn…
LG, I believe you should perform a more thorough examination of the test samples, to determine whether kernel-covers are present in the fecal matter resulting from the ingestion of popcorn.

Break out the tweezers and rubber gloves!

I do. I suspect it reassembles itself in the colon. Yet popcorn doesn't. Perhaps the heat of cooking damages the nanoassemblers. *scratches shin thoughtfully*

Perhaps whole corn kernels possess virus-like capabilities? Bringing the famed biological question back into the light: "Is corn truly alive?"

I see...
*throws a pie at LG*

*ducks so it hits Fass instead*

One of the cardinal rules of pie fights is that you are only allowed to duck if someone else is behind you. *nod*

Pie is a nearly perfect creation. Part food, part toy. The combination of textures(filling and crust) and colors is a work of art. The first pie fight is lost in the mists of antiquity, but they have been captured on film almost since the beginning of the motion picture. Laurel and Hardy had a famous one in one of their earliest films.

I love pie. :)

I see...
*throws a pie at LG*

I do. I suspect it reassembles itself in the colon.

I must then say I am quite impressed by the feats accomplished by your colon. It should be probed.

I must then say I am quite impressed by the feats accomplished by your colon. It should be probed.

That's what my priest said. :(

Why can't men put the toilet seat down?

Fixed.

But the kernel-cover remains attached to the popcorn…

But it is thoroughly cooked at higher temperatures and is also smaller and of the same colour as faeces usually are. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't in your poop, unaltered.

But it is thoroughly cooked at higher temperatures and is also smaller and of the same colour as faeces usually are. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't in your poop, unaltered.

If you've ever got those bits of kernel stuck in your teeth, you wouldn't think you could poop them out without feeling them.

What are the greatest mysteries of modern science? Those physical phenomenon that mystify and defy all attempts at explaination?

For me, it's this:

When you eat corn, it comes back out whole in your poop. But when you eat popcorn, it doesn't. Why is that? :confused:

Candy corn also seems to have the same results as popcorn.... Brb, gotta wash my hands!

Yes another mystery solved by science.

How to properly dispose of an evil object. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_LaLE0Ef9k&feature=related)

Pie is a nearly perfect creation. Part food, part toy. The combination of textures(filling and crust) and colors is a work of art. The first pie fight is lost in the mists of antiquity, but they have been captured on film almost since the beginning of the motion picture. Laurel and Hardy had a famous one in one of their earliest films.

I thought that stop-action photography disproved the idea of the "flying pie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method#Truth_and_belief)", particularly its depiction in art?

If you've ever got those bits of kernel stuck in your teeth, you wouldn't think you could poop them out without feeling them.

Oh, you'd be amazed at what you can't feel through the poop chute and what you can. We do not have the same type of touch receptors in the viscera as we do in the skin and oral mucosa.

That's what my priest said. :(

Mazel tov!

But if you eat a whole bowl of corn, do all the kernels come out whole when you dump? Or is that there is only one or two kernels that you see in there. And hence those are the one or two that just happened to get away????

But if you eat a whole bowl of corn, do all the kernels come out whole when you dump? Or is that there is only one or two kernels that you see in there. And hence those are the one or two that just happened to get away????

Natural selection at work in the bathroom!

Why can't mods put the toilet seat down?


Fixed.

I like that better. More fitting of this thread.

I like that better. More fitting of this thread.

It also has more terrifying implications if it turns out to be true for all folks who have been reading this thread.

Oh, you'd be amazed at what you can't feel through the poop chute and what you can. We do not have the same type of touch receptors in the viscera as we do in the skin and oral mucosa.

I defer to your expertise in this field. :)

I defer to your expertise in this field. :)

I suppose your religious upbringing wasn't thorough enough. Go back for more in the rectory!

I suppose your religious upbringing wasn't thorough enough. Go back for more in the rectory!

Another mystery:

Rectum....

Rectory....

Coincidence? :confused:


Keep em coming(which my priest also said), Fass!

Another mystery:

Rectum....

Rectory....

Coincidence? :confused:

Keep em coming(which my priest also said), Fass!

Well, "rectory" comes from "rector" derived from the Latin "rectus" ("straight, right") and "regere" ("to lead straight, to direct, rule").

"Rectum" is short for Medieval Latin "rectum intestinum", "straight intestine".

Well, "rectory" comes from "rector" derived from the Latin "rectus" ("straight, right")

Heh. Kinda funny considering. :p

*ducks so it hits Fass instead*

One of the cardinal rules of pie fights is that you are only allowed to duck if someone else is behind you. *nod*

Question is why would Fass be standing behind you? :eek:

Question is why would Fass be standing behind you? :eek:

Because i have a pie too. *throws it at you*

Question is why would Fass be standing behind you? :eek:

Probing, obviously.

Because i have a pie too. *throws it at you*

As long as it doesn't have corn in it. ;)

Heh. Kinda funny considering. :p

How so?

Apropos of nothing - grasps cane in hand, strokes beard - when I was a young chap living on a beach in the Peloponnese for a week or so, miles from anywhere, about the only source of food was a farmer who came every morning to sell fruit by the road to passing drivers.

He'd bbq corn on the cob, covered in salt so we ate these daily, washed down with sweet melons, since it was about all we could buy other than hoiking out with the fishermen and catching fish for an evening.

Let me tell you now, corn on the cob and melon is not the best combination, the melon creating a liquid discharge that is then peppered with corn bits. When you had to go, you had to go.

If I aimed right, I could take out a seagull from 50 yards.

If I aimed right, I could take out a seagull from 50 yards.

A far from misspent youth.

How so?

The words 'straight' and 'right' being used to describe rectors and rectorys when this thread is already laden with attacks on priests. Not that I'm suggested that priests aren't straight in the sexual preference way because statistically, most pedophile priests consider themselves straight. But they certainly aren't 'right'. :p

I certainly think the term 'rector' and 'rectory' doesn't surprise me in it's origins. It's loaded with the arrogance of organized religion.

I applaud all of you for managing to create a 3 page thread simply by discussing Poo and Corn.

Although this is slightly repulsive i have giggled and cried throughout the entire journey. So thankyou to all who have contributed to this fascinatingly scientific and intellectual conversation.

I have learnt more today then i have in a life time.

LG - Maybe corn is your natural enemy?

Why can't men put the toilet seat down?Fixed.

well, for me, I never lift it up in the first place, so I really can't put it down because it's already down.
and no, I actually sit on it when I use it. both a #1 and #2.
I found it easier to just keep it down. less complaints all around. :p

It's primarily the outer husk of the corn that passes through, as a consequence of it being largely cellulose (I believe). In any case, it's fibrous vegetable matter that is largely undigestible, so it goes in one end and out the other. Often goes by the name of fiber, because the material has the nice side effect of scrubbing the walls of the colon as it passes through and raking off any bits of flotsam that have gotten stuck to the intestinal wall. Popcorn does have much the same kind of thing (think about all the little baked brown husks that get stuck in your teeth), but because of the way the popcorn husks have been baked, they're all crumbly and brown, so you don't usually pick them out in your stool later on.

I like that better. More fitting of this thread.

Not only do I put the seat down, I put the cover down. Tiny fecal mists from flushing do not belong on my toothbrush, thanks.

Often goes by the name of fiber, because the material has the nice side effect of scrubbing the walls of the colon as it passes through and raking off any bits of flotsam that have gotten stuck to the intestinal wall.

Nature's scouring pad!

It's primarily the outer husk of the corn that passes through, as a consequence of it being largely cellulose (I believe). In any case, it's fibrous vegetable matter that is largely undigestible, so it goes in one end and out the other. Often goes by the name of fiber, because the material has the nice side effect of scrubbing the walls of the colon as it passes through and raking off any bits of flotsam that have gotten stuck to the intestinal wall. Popcorn does have much the same kind of thing (think about all the little baked brown husks that get stuck in your teeth), but because of the way the popcorn husks have been baked, they're all crumbly and brown, so you don't usually pick them out in your stool later on.

Alton Brown covered it on an episode of "Good Eats" when they focused on Corn.

Bah! I didn't actually want my mysteries solved! :mad:

*bombards you all with tachyon pies* :p

Bah! I didn't actually want my mysteries solved! :mad:

*bombards you all with tachyon pies* :p

here's my mystery... where was LG hiding all those pies?

here's my mystery... where was LG hiding all those pies?

He wasn't hiding them. You just couldn't possibly ever see them.
Well, you could. But once you find them, they aren't there.

here's my mystery... where was LG hiding all those pies?

Superluminal pies FTW! :D


Edit: Out of curiosity, if tachyons can't be used to transmit information due to causality and a pie to the face could be construed as 'information', would tachyon pies violate causality?

Edit: Out of curiosity, if tachyons can't be used to transmit information due to causality and a pie to the face could be construed as 'information', would tachyon pies violate causality?

Maybe, but I can't see that stopping you. :p

Not only do I put the seat down, I put the cover down. Tiny fecal mists from flushing do not belong on my toothbrush, thanks.

Your toilet creates a fine mist that can reach your toothbrush on top of the sink!?

Superluminal pies FTW! :D


Edit: Out of curiosity, if tachyons can't be used to transmit information due to causality and a pie to the face could be construed as 'information', would tachyon pies violate causality?

ah, but is the Tachyon Pie made completely from Tachyon or does it only contain Tachyons.

after all, an Apple Pie only contains apples, it's not made entirely from apples. then again, a pie made entirely of Tachyons would have to still remaine in some way in the pie tin. thus when you throw a tachyon pie, you are just throwing the pie tin.

Your toilet creats a fine mist that can reach your toothbrush on top of the sink!?

learn something new everyday. ;)

Your toilet creats a fine mist that can reach your toothbrush on top of the sink!?

Ever heard of "eau to toilette"? Here's a tip: never put it in your AirWick.

ah, but is the Tachyon Pie made completely from Tachyon or does it only contain Tachyons.

after all, an Apple Pie only contains apples, it's not made entirely from apples. then again, a pie made entirely of Tachyons would have to still remaine in some way in the pie tin. thus when you throw a tachyon pie, you are just throwing the pie tin.

That's a point, actually. If tachyon pies violate causality, perhaps there is a fundamental property of physics that prevents pies from exceeding the speed of light?

I believe research needs to be performed in this area.

That's a point, actually. If tachyon pies violate causality, perhaps there is a fundamental property of physics that prevents pies from exceeding the speed of light?

I believe research needs to be performed in this area.

Pie slows down as you approach the speed of light? :confused:

Your toilet creates a fine mist that can reach your toothbrush on top of the sink!?

Mythbusters did a whole thing on it. I leave you with this quote "There's poo everywhere!".

Fixed.

Why do women need to make everything just eprfect?:p