Well, This is not the fourth Newton's law, it is the new law of urination! Ta-da! Yes you have read right: scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology coined a new rule:
"All Mammals takes about 21 seconds to urinate"
"All Mammals takes about 21 seconds to urinate"
According to Patricia Yang "this law of urination applies across a wide range of animal sizes". The question is how she did the research? She got to the Atlanta zoo and closely "observed" animals from goats, cow, dogs to elephants. As the result of these strenuous observations and research she concluded that "every animal took an average of 21 seconds to relieve itself, despite bladders that varied in volume from 100 milliliters to 100 liters"
What was the most surprising is the elephant which is expected to have a longer urination time because of its massive bladder size. On a side note the elephant has a urethra of one meter long with a diameter of 10 cm. How could elephants empty their bladder in about the same time as goats, dogs or even humans (mid-sized mammals) ? The answer is simple: due to this long urethra the elephant allows its urine to pick more up speed. When the flow rate increases, it allows the elephant to reach a very similar urination time compared to smaller size mammals.
So why is this important. I found this article entertaining and weird. I then realized that this study could provide a proof that mammals used to have a common ancestor. Evolution could do magic in terms of size, look, intelligence but not in terms of urination!
I will agree that this article is strange and interesting. I never would have known that an elephant takes approximately the same time to eliminate its bladder as a dog (that's crazy!). I like how you were able to relate it back to science though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Betsy :)
DeleteInteresting article! As weird as it is now I want to test it out for myself by timing my cat. I find it hard to believe that all mammals, despite size, urinate within the same length of time, but your connection back to evolution is a valid argument. My other thought is how does someone think of this type of study? It is weird and interesting, I don't know how it can be used in the scientific community, but it's a fun fact!
ReplyDeleteI did already with myself and a the cat at my friend's house. Positive result for my cat, Negative for me. I guess my bladder is a bit bigger than it should be! And the how people thought about it? well scientists think about all sort of crazy stuff, you can't imagine what on my mind right now! I also don't know how that is used but for me it's just a small drop in the evolution bucket although the article never mentioned anything about evolution!
DeleteWOW....I always enjoy coming to your page. I do not know where you find this stuff, but it is always interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I appreciate it! science should not be boring but fun guys!
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