
Farts can cause infection if the emitter is naked, but not if clothed (2001) - jonwachob91
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1121900/
======
fritzw
"He asked a colleague to break wind directly onto two Petri dishes" ... "first
fully clothed, then with his trousers down."

"Our final conclusion? Don't fart naked near food."

It may not seem significant but someday everyone will consider these findings
obvious. That's because of this brave study.

~~~
charlieflowers
I am already hard at work verifying whether the results can be replicated.

------
gmarx
When I was a medical student I was assisting on an operation when I let loose
with a horrible sulfurous fart. I was sly about it and made no noise. At some
point the surgeon made a comment about how "it didn't smell too good in there"
so I had to come clean; didn't want him further exploring and maybe cutting
the abdomen to track down the smell.

I tell this because that story is rarely relevant in my life and also to tell
you that farts actually are relevant in a surgical context. The study is not
as silly as it sounds

~~~
jonwachob91
Every time I hear stories like this I think back to the episode of Scrubs were
Turk farts in during an abdominal surgery and he lets the attending think he
nicked the colon.

~~~
spilk
that was The Todd, not Turk:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdxTcpbOki0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdxTcpbOki0)

------
gkfasdfasdf
Bad news for the bikini barristas? [http://people.com/celebrity/topless-
coffee-shops-the-bikini-...](http://people.com/celebrity/topless-coffee-shops-
the-bikini-baristas-of-washington/)

~~~
yellowapple
Depends on the bikini, probably. If the posterior portion thereof has
sufficient coverage, there shouldn't be any major issue.

~~~
M_Grey
Or better yet, adapt those "As Seen On TV" 'fart absorbing undies' to the
task. As bonus the baristas can go back to their kale and cruciform diet,
without worrying that their mighty trumpets would disturb the customers.

~~~
Neliquat
NSF Certified thongs really do need to be a thing I suppose.

------
M_Grey
I think it's fair to say that if you're in a position to be directly farted on
by a nude person, more intimate contact has or will occur.

~~~
carapace
Just this morning I saw a person with no pants entering the Subway sandwich
store on Market St. (This is in San Francisco... Civic Center.) Bare cheeks to
the wind.

~~~
M_Grey
I... stand corrected. I guess if he was wearing, shirt and shoes...

~~~
carapace
Lol

She (!) seemed to have everything else clothes-wise, including a hat.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
>She (!)

That should have been obvious. Nobody thinks twice about women wearing less
than they typical minimum of clothing in public. When men do it people call
the cops.

------
midgetjones
I would have put money on this happening in Australia.

See also: 'where have all the bloody teaspoons gone?'
[http://www.bmj.com/content/331/7531/1498](http://www.bmj.com/content/331/7531/1498)

~~~
mathoff
French data indicate global phenomenon!
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326950/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326950/)

------
sauronlord
Delicious quote:

"...splatter ring around that was caused by the sheer velocity of the fart,
which blew skin bacteria from the cheeks and blasted it onto the dish...
they're similar to the ‘friendly’ bacteria found in yoghurt."

You're welcome, you pervert.

~~~
Jonathanks
Now that's funny. Someone just ruined your yogurt-filled snack? ;-)

------
charlieflowers
In all seriousness ... the experiment failed to control for potential
differences between the farts.

------
grabcocque
Did this win an Ig Nobel and if not, why not?

~~~
jwilk
It's not on
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ig_Nobel_Prize_winners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ig_Nobel_Prize_winners)
.

However, Karl Kruszelnicki did receive Ig Nobel Prize for his research on
belly button fluff.

------
winteriscoming
Aaargh!! Too late, wish I had known this a few minutes back

~~~
happy-go-lucky
> But the results of the experiment should not be considered alarming, because
> neither type of bacterium is harmful. In fact, they're similar to the
> ‘friendly’ bacteria found in yoghurt.

:)

~~~
tmysl
so you are saying we can make our own yoghurt using this method?

~~~
huntersbellend
you can make it with your own vagina's yeast, at least:
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/11/vagina-
yogurt_n_666...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/11/vagina-
yogurt_n_6661792.html)

(nsfw, apparently)

~~~
hueving
>you can make it with your own vagina

Where does someone get one of these? Check your privilege! ;)

------
jonwachob91
Lesson of the day, don't work in a clean room naked.

------
daveguy
This brings all new meaning to the phrase "silent but deadly".

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mcv
Far too small sample size. This research needs to be redone with a lot more
farts.

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olyjohn
Cake farts are even more dangerous than I had realized.

------
jgalt212
Well this definitely leads credence to the rumor you can give someone pinkeye
if you fart on their pillow.

~~~
winteriscoming
Apparently, only if you do that while being naked.

------
robotnoises
I hope someone reaches-out to the Ludacris team about this but I fear it may
be too late.

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anonu
Seems like the study may be self-contradicting. If the bacteria studied is the
"good" kind, like the one in yogurt, don't you want this in all your food?

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xor_null
That is so awesome on so many levels.....

~~~
Zuider
Not if the experiment takes place in an elevator....

------
strictnein
Amusing that this is sitting just under the "Bare bottom simplest example of
machine learning in TensorFlow" story at the moment.

~~~
phasnox
You must admit this arouses your curiosity. I mean why the infections are more
likely to occur if the subject is naked? What's the difference?

Is it not what HN is about?

~~~
UhUhUhUh
At least one filtering mesh. Hopefully two.

------
desireco42
Don't we have diseases to cure, cancers to heal?

~~~
derekp7
I don't know what it is about this type of comment, but whenever someone says
something like this it really infuriates me.

Yes, freedom of speech and opinion and all, but my first thought is "How dare
you criticize someone else for wasting time on something you don't feel is
important. Unless you've never, once in your life, done a sub-optimal or
unnecessary task. Go to a movie lately? Why didn't you send that money to a
food bank? Why didn't you use that time to do some small piece of work to save
the world?"

~~~
Chris2048
desireco42 put a lot of hard work and effort into that criticism, who are you
to say it's no good?

