It's a One Way Trip to Brown Town
November 28, 2022 1:47 PM Subscribe
When I was a kid we swallowed 2x4 bricks. Now kids today can swallow all manner of specialized pieces. It's just not the same.
Many years ago I did contracting work for Children's Hospital in Boston and one of the departments, whichever one handles throats, we'll call it Throatology, had one of those shelves on the wall, the kind that would hold a large collection of thimbles, only instead it had about 200 objects that they had fished out of kid's throats over the years. I still have nightmares about some of those things.
posted by bondcliff at 2:01 PM on November 28, 2022 [23 favorites]
Many years ago I did contracting work for Children's Hospital in Boston and one of the departments, whichever one handles throats, we'll call it Throatology, had one of those shelves on the wall, the kind that would hold a large collection of thimbles, only instead it had about 200 objects that they had fished out of kid's throats over the years. I still have nightmares about some of those things.
posted by bondcliff at 2:01 PM on November 28, 2022 [23 favorites]
Not defecator.com?
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 2:08 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 2:08 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
we'll call it Throatology
That's what I said when I was setting up my latest sockpuppet account!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:18 PM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
That's what I said when I was setting up my latest sockpuppet account!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:18 PM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
well here i go, reading this.
posted by Hypatia at 2:25 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Hypatia at 2:25 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Given that capsule endoscopy (where you swallow a small camera) is a regularly used procedure, I don’t know what the point of this was.
posted by Phanx at 2:25 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 2:25 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Henry: I came up with the acronyms kind of on the spot, about the Stool Hardness and Transit (SHAT) test and the Found and Retrieved Time (FART).
Good to know that even becoming a scientist doesn't obliterate the 11-year-old inside all of us.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:27 PM on November 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
Good to know that even becoming a scientist doesn't obliterate the 11-year-old inside all of us.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:27 PM on November 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
I count among my friends the winner of an IgNobel prize, who was honoured for a similarly full-throated commitment to science.
posted by Rumple at 2:31 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Rumple at 2:31 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Given that capsule endoscopy (where you swallow a small camera) is a regularly used procedure, I don’t know what the point of this was.
Unless the camera capsules are shaped like and made out of the same material as lego, it sounds like it would only answer a similar but different question to the one at issue:
"I thought, well, there’s no real data about how long it takes Lego to go through. There’s data about how long it takes coins to go through. It’d be really interesting to see how long it took to go through."
posted by Dysk at 2:35 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Unless the camera capsules are shaped like and made out of the same material as lego, it sounds like it would only answer a similar but different question to the one at issue:
"I thought, well, there’s no real data about how long it takes Lego to go through. There’s data about how long it takes coins to go through. It’d be really interesting to see how long it took to go through."
posted by Dysk at 2:35 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Where Lego one, we all go.
posted by chavenet at 2:40 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 2:40 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Giving new meaning to the phrase "shitting bricks".
(Oh come on, it was right there.)
posted by vverse23 at 2:58 PM on November 28, 2022 [54 favorites]
(Oh come on, it was right there.)
posted by vverse23 at 2:58 PM on November 28, 2022 [54 favorites]
The first 3 times I read this it kept coming out as "Doctors sewed 6 lego heads to take a poo" it's a challenging sentence construction is what i'm saying.
posted by bleep at 3:00 PM on November 28, 2022
posted by bleep at 3:00 PM on November 28, 2022
An Oral History Of The Time Six Doctors Swallowed Lego Heads To See How Long They’d Take To Poo
posted by backseatpilot
eponyscarical
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 3:07 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by backseatpilot
eponyscarical
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 3:07 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
We know that number one ingested foreign body in children are coinsGiven the massive shift to card payments, away from cash, since the lockdowns (at least in Aus) I wonder what will replace coins?
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:14 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
extra credit if a space helmet is attached?
posted by clavdivs at 3:31 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 3:31 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
We have taught our kids the word "toot" for "fart", because while we prefer "fart" we really didnt want to deal with eventual pre-school faff about the word. Anyway, there's little more adorable than one of my 3 year old twins piping up, "Mommy tooted!" after, well, I tooted. I toot a lot.
posted by atomicstone at 3:31 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by atomicstone at 3:31 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Extra extra credit if the space helmet remains attached
posted by hippybear at 3:32 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:32 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
The real points come if you can swallow the head and helmet separately, then pass the head with the helmet on.
posted by Dysk at 3:37 PM on November 28, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 3:37 PM on November 28, 2022 [16 favorites]
Like tying a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue, but later in the process.
posted by hippybear at 3:46 PM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:46 PM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Exactly! Much later.
posted by Dysk at 3:47 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Dysk at 3:47 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Given that capsule endoscopy (where you swallow a small camera) is a regularly used procedure, I don’t know what the point of this was.
It's the indoor version of Pooh Sticks.
posted by biffa at 3:52 PM on November 28, 2022 [16 favorites]
It's the indoor version of Pooh Sticks.
posted by biffa at 3:52 PM on November 28, 2022 [16 favorites]
The real points come if you can swallow the head and helmet separately, then pass the head with the helmet on.
Bonus points if a fully-assembled Lunar Research Base set emerges, although I guess that would make the moon (that the base in question is stationed on) Titania, Oberon, etc.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:02 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Bonus points if a fully-assembled Lunar Research Base set emerges, although I guess that would make the moon (that the base in question is stationed on) Titania, Oberon, etc.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:02 PM on November 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
See MiniFig 1.
posted by zamboni at 4:05 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 4:05 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
I saw "history", "time", and "six doctors" close together, and briefly thought this was going to be a very weird 60th anniversary Doctor Who special indeed.
posted by mollweide at 4:09 PM on November 28, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 4:09 PM on November 28, 2022 [12 favorites]
would the no face 70s Lego head add less drag thus adding to viscosity.
posted by clavdivs at 4:11 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 4:11 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Rejected by the BM Journal. Well, this too shall pass.
posted by zamboni at 4:15 PM on November 28, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 4:15 PM on November 28, 2022 [13 favorites]
Given that capsule endoscopy (where you swallow a small camera) is a regularly used procedure, I don’t know what the point of this was.
posted by zamboni at 4:19 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
We get people to swallow pill cameras all the time in our gastro department, and they’re bigger than that. The numbers that we’d learned, although I’d learned as part of my pediatric training around what you will and won’t pass and where the danger zones are, is that if something’s greater than 110 millimeters, then it won’t get around your duodenum. And if it’s pointy and spiky, then there’s a risk of it stabbing into stuff. The Lego heads were neither of those. We’ve kind of talked about that right at the point of designing the study because we talked about swallowing the classic two-by-four Lego brick, and then decided that that was going to be too pointy. Really, a Lego head is just like a piece of corn, isn’t it?
posted by zamboni at 4:19 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Given that capsule endoscopy (where you swallow a small camera) is a regularly used procedure, I don’t know what the point of this was.
This being Metafilter, I’m not surprised somebody came here just to pooh-pooh this research.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:46 PM on November 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
This being Metafilter, I’m not surprised somebody came here just to pooh-pooh this research.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:46 PM on November 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
Do children and adults have digestive systems that work at the same pace?
posted by aniola at 6:02 PM on November 28, 2022
posted by aniola at 6:02 PM on November 28, 2022
Lovely piece of work 😉. As I child, we had a single piece of Lego with the number ‘7’ upon it. It was used for every house built. It had been thru my, and my siblings (totalling 4), guts at least once each. If only this research had been done in the 70s. #poorparentsposted by aniola at 6:03 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
— Simon Whittaker (@bluesaint72) November 23, 2018
Do children and adults have digestive systems that work at the same pace?
That's a question I asked myself. I'd assume kids are faster because the length of the tube would be shorter? But maybe they're slower because they're pulling more out of the food? My digestion at 50+ is entirely nothing like it was under 20.
posted by hippybear at 6:10 PM on November 28, 2022
That's a question I asked myself. I'd assume kids are faster because the length of the tube would be shorter? But maybe they're slower because they're pulling more out of the food? My digestion at 50+ is entirely nothing like it was under 20.
posted by hippybear at 6:10 PM on November 28, 2022
That'll wipe the smile off their smug little faces.
posted by PlusDistance at 6:43 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by PlusDistance at 6:43 PM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
I mean, digestion's not really in this equation, is it? It's just peristalsis and fluid and solid mechanics. The Lego head's just, well...
... a passenger
And I ride, and I ride
I ride through the city's backsides
I see the stars come out of the sky
Yeah, they're bright in a hollow sky
You know it looks so good tonight
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:59 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
... a passenger
And I ride, and I ride
I ride through the city's backsides
I see the stars come out of the sky
Yeah, they're bright in a hollow sky
You know it looks so good tonight
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:59 PM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I saw "history", "time", and "six doctors" close together, and briefly thought this was going to be a very weird 60th anniversary Doctor Who special indeed.
I am so glad I am not the only one. That capitalization can send people in the wrong direction entirely.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:41 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am so glad I am not the only one. That capitalization can send people in the wrong direction entirely.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:41 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Legos in your offal!
Office life gets weird/
when you're part of a team!
Meas-uring your offal!
'Cuz the loo has a screen...
posted by bartleby at 7:41 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Office life gets weird/
when you're part of a team!
Meas-uring your offal!
'Cuz the loo has a screen...
posted by bartleby at 7:41 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Lego Batman once swallowed his own legs and pooped them at his enemies.
Alfred was not fond of laundry duty that night.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 7:49 PM on November 28, 2022
Alfred was not fond of laundry duty that night.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 7:49 PM on November 28, 2022
even becoming a scientist doesn't obliterate the 11-year-old inside all of us
If only there were some way to find out how long it takes to get the 11-year-old out.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:15 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
If only there were some way to find out how long it takes to get the 11-year-old out.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:15 PM on November 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
A part of me thought, well maybe I could do something around Paw Patrol
A Very Special Episode, indeed.
posted by credulous at 9:03 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
A Very Special Episode, indeed.
posted by credulous at 9:03 PM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
The christmas special episode is on how long it takes decorative tinsel to pass through a cat.
posted by bartleby at 9:18 PM on November 28, 2022
posted by bartleby at 9:18 PM on November 28, 2022
Someone could make a Brickfilm of this research, or it could make the premise of the new Lego Movie.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 11:09 PM on November 28, 2022
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 11:09 PM on November 28, 2022
The christmas special episode is on how long it takes decorative tinsel to pass through a cat.
Keep hold of one end and you can find out how long the cat's digestive system is, and have a unique Christmas decoration for your home or vet surgery.
posted by biffa at 12:47 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Keep hold of one end and you can find out how long the cat's digestive system is, and have a unique Christmas decoration for your home or vet surgery.
posted by biffa at 12:47 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
it could make the premise of the new Lego Movie.
The Lego Movie/Innerspace crossover I didn't know I wanted.
...I still don't know that I want it.
posted by solotoro at 5:30 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Lego Movie/Innerspace crossover I didn't know I wanted.
...I still don't know that I want it.
posted by solotoro at 5:30 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
For a moment when I started reading the headline, I saw "Six Doctors" and thought this was going to be a Doctor Who post. Though I wouldn't put it past them to make an episode about 6 iterations of the same Time Lord pooping Legos.
posted by KingEdRa at 6:12 AM on November 29, 2022
posted by KingEdRa at 6:12 AM on November 29, 2022
Meas-uring your offal!
If you are measuring your own offal, please see a doctor.
But Pagliacci…
posted by zamboni at 6:56 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you are measuring your own offal, please see a doctor.
But Pagliacci…
posted by zamboni at 6:56 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
That sounds offal.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:17 AM on November 29, 2022
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:17 AM on November 29, 2022
This is a plot point in more than one spy movie. They need to try diamonds of various sizes (they could use cubic zirconium to save costs) and Micro SD cards next.
posted by eye of newt at 1:29 PM on November 29, 2022
posted by eye of newt at 1:29 PM on November 29, 2022
It's a One Way Trip to Brown Town
Gene and Dean would be delighted.
posted by waving at 4:27 AM on November 30, 2022
Gene and Dean would be delighted.
posted by waving at 4:27 AM on November 30, 2022
I MEAN THATS WHAT BEETS ARE FOR
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:32 PM on November 30, 2022
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:32 PM on November 30, 2022
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Better than the alternative, I guess.
posted by mittens at 1:58 PM on November 28, 2022 [28 favorites]