According to a 2013 survey, over eighty three percent of Americans drink coffee in the morning and the average citizen drinks multiple cups per day. Between the dark brew, the flavored lattes, the frozen caffeinated treats, and the whirling gadgets, coffee is now a thirty billion dollar industry. Coffee is big business and companies like Starbucks, Peets, and Folgers have spent gobs of money to get people to drink more of it. Despite all of that, the most expensive coffee probably can’t be found in your downtown coffee shop. No, the most expensive coffee in the world lives alongside feces in the intestinal gut of an Asian palm civet.
Toilet tech is no longer the oft-overlooked subject it once was, and much of that is thanks to the Gates Foundation, which has made helping the 3.5 billion people lacking access to clean toilets one of its main missions. But how does one test the durability of potential cost-effective commodes? By using fake poop, of course.
As unlikely as it might seem, fecal transplants
There are all kinds of dangers on a trip to Mars. Muscle atrophy, cramped quarters, social/isolation stress, being in space. Take your pick. One of the biggest though, is being exposed to all manner of radiation and cosmic rays without an o-zone layer to keep you safe. The solution? An O-zone layer of poop. Basically. More »
Sitting on the can without a smartphone—much like sitting at the bar without a smartphone—is soooo boring. What are you supposed to do with yourself? Be alone with your thoughts? Talk to the person on the toilet/stool next to you? Ugh. More »