POOP

Why Do Dogs Spin Around Before They Poop?

Dogs have a tendency to preface their bowel movements with a bit of rotating before getting down to business. Is there evolution behind their revolution?

Matayang (pool), Bun_Visit (arm)/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Our 40 Favorite Stories of 2021

From Universal Orlando's wild (and usually inoperable) 'Jaws' ride of the '90s to the very real—and very captive—tiger shark that threw up a human arm and sparked a 1935 murder investigation, the Mental Floss team is sharing some of our favorite stories f

Without Ed Lowe, we might not be so friendly with cats.

Ed Lowe, the Inventor Behind Kitty Litter

With kitty litter, Ed Lowe changed how cats and humans bonded. But not everyone understood the idea: One woman tried feeding it to her cat.

Careful Where You Step—These 20 Cities Have the Most Dog Poop

If you go for a walk in any one the 20 worst U.S. cities for dog poop, just remember to look down every 5 to 10 seconds.

Your Baby's Poop May Be Full of Microplastics

Your baby's diaper may be harboring a different kind of nasty surprise: lots of microplastics from clothing, toys, and formula bottles.

Roomba's new vacuum might be poop-proof.

Roomba Swears Its New Vacuum Won't Drag Dog Poop Around Your House

Roomba's new vacuum solves a problem that's been plaguing pet owners for years: How to dispatch an automated vacuum and have it avoid smearing dog poop around in the process.

Paying to relieve yourself was surprisingly common in the 20th century.

Pay-Per-Poop: A History of Pay Toilets

Since the Roman Empire, government has sought to tax your poops. It took four high school students to stand up to this turd tyranny.

Does Your Cat’s Butthole Touch Everything It Sits On? One Middle-Schooler Devised an Experiment to Find Out

The science experiment was made possible by red lipstick, white paper, and a high tolerance for looking at cat buttholes.

Poop, Boob, and Other Terms Apple Won’t Engrave on Your New AirTags

Apple AirTags will help you keep track of your stuff, but they won’t help you convey how funny you find the word ‘boob.’

A monster from the deep and a massive brown beast: potentially the kind of dumps Godzilla and King Kong would produce.

Godzilla vs. King Kong: Whose Poops Would Be Bigger?

If 'Godzilla vs. Kong' were a pooping contest, who would produce the most waste: a radioactive amphibious lizard or a colossal ape?

Can Bird Poop Damage Cars?

Bird droppings on cars are not only unsightly, they're actually little chemical attacks that can seriously damage the paint finish.

Sea Cucumbers on One Coral Reef Drop Several Eiffel Towers’ Worth of Poop Each Year—and That’s a Good Thing

Slow clap for sea cucumbers, whose excretory achievements could help slow climate change damage to the Great Barrier Reef.

Need to Know the Sex of a Wild Turkey? Look at Its Poop

Learn the difference between male and female turkey poop if you need a gross Thanksgiving conversation topic.

NASA Has Redesigned the Space Toilet for Female Astronauts

NASA's new-and-improved space toilet has a redesigned seat that should be more accommodating to female astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Sometimes bad jokes can be for a good cause.

A Man Cycled More Than 2500 Miles From Poo Poo Point, Washington, to Pee Pee Creek, Ohio

How far would you go for a cheap joke? One guy cycled 69 miles a day for over a month. But he had reasons beyond a punchline.

Surprise: Cows Poop Corn Kernels, Too

Cows can digest tough materials much better than humans, which is a testament to the near-indestructibility of corn.

A piece of fatberg from the sewer systems under London's Whitechapel neighborhood on display at the Museum of London. And if you think this piece is gross, you should have seen the fatberg when it was in the sewer.

15 Fascinating Facts About Fatbergs

Lurking in the sewer systems under your feet is a threat so horrifying, so disgusting, that the mere mention of it sends a shiver down the spines of sanitation specialists everywhere. Here’s what you need to know about fatbergs.

NASA Will Award You Up to $20,000 for Designing a Toilet That Works on the Moon

Winners of NASA's Lunar Loo Challenge will receive thousands of dollars for designing toilets that works as well on the moon as they do in microgravity.

Brocken Inaglory, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA

Yosemite National Park’s Sewage Tested Positive for Coronavirus

No residents or park employees have tested positive for the virus, but according to recent a analysis of its sewage, COVID-19 is present in Yosemite.

Flushing a Toilet Could Create a Cloud of Coronavirus-Contaminated Droplets

Toilets have always sent contaminants into the air, but the coronavirus pandemic is giving new urgency to the practice of closing the lid whenever possible.

Penguin Poop Makes So Much Laughing Gas That Scientists Studying It Go ‘Completely Cuckoo’

When it breaks down, poop from king penguins releases nitrous oxide—a gas that affects both the environment and the scientists who study it.

Not the actual northern curly-tailed lizard with the epic poop.

What a Lizard Poop of Epic Proportions Is Teaching Scientists

Explore a 3D-model of a lizard's record-setting poop, formed by its taste for pizza grease, that will haunt the halls of eternity.

In 1973, Johnny Carson accidentally prompted mass panic over toilet paper.

Wiped Out: When Johnny Carson Helped Cause a Toilet Paper Shortage in 1973

Late-night host Johnny Carson thought he was making an innocent joke about a shortage of toilet paper. Then the panic buying began.

The Reason Toilet Paper Is Always White

Consumers are used to options, but with toilet paper, it's white or nothing. The reason why is a little messy.

PREV NEXT