Knives made out of human feces and crocodiles that can squeal

Science that make you first laugh and then think, that’s the slogan of the annually awarded Ignoble Prizes. Tim and Cat discuss the work of some of this year’s winners.

AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA

No tools at hand but desperate for a knife? Not a problem, your own feces fixes it, or does it? Researchers finally refuted a long standing myth about the knife made out of human feces. Also, what does a crocodile on helium sound like and why would the world benefit from such a study? These and a few more slightly different research stories this week on Boiling Point.

Sources

A Chinese Alligator in Heliox: Formant Frequencies in a Crocodilian,

Experimental Replication Shows Knives Manufactured from Frozen Human Feces Do Not Work