Experiments show knives manufactured from frozen human feces do not work [pdf](cdn.inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net)
cdn.inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net
Experiments show knives manufactured from frozen human feces do not work [pdf]
https://cdn.inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net/ba474891-1430-4f35-9e31-ea513ae6cf1f/Eren%20et%20al.%202019.pdf?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCIsImtpZCI6ImNkbiJ9.eyJyZXNvdXJjZSI6Ii9iYTQ3NDg5MS0xNDMwLTRmMzUtOWUzMS1lYTUxM2FlNmNmMWYvRXJlbiUyMGV0JTIwYWwuJTIwMjAxOS5wZGYiLCJ0ZW5hbnQiOiJjYW52YXMiLCJ1c2VyX2lkIjpudWxsLCJpYXQiOjE2ODkyNjU2ODEsImV4cCI6MTY4OTM1MjA4MX0.22riL7ZhARmNuP2fDiEvfV69gEkmY9Re6JrYUATo1hmCNIHp218b3JOJ031mlyKiq34diyV0vF7DnZfojTTrnA&download=1&content_type=application%2Fpdf
31 comments
"The use of saliva to sharpen a frozen fecal blade, as the original account describes (Davis, 1998), might also be examined. "
It seems to me that some Inuit tried to troll the researchers :)
This just shows “researchers” are happy to research any shit that receives funding.
There are a great many other unconventional materials you can make knives out of, though: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg3qsVzHeUt5_cPpcRtoaJQ
What a gem of a channel! I watched the meat knife one and was mesmerized by the wonderful weirdness and calm.
What was with the spinach / oxalic acid?
Nitrate, NO−3 which is later used to preserve the chicken along with Carbon monoxide.
It was unclear from the video how much the preservatives contributed to the structural properties of the knife, or if they were just used to preserve it during the 2 weeks at 90F, which I assume dessicated the meat.
It was unclear from the video how much the preservatives contributed to the structural properties of the knife, or if they were just used to preserve it during the 2 weeks at 90F, which I assume dessicated the meat.
Previously:
2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20958786 (17 comments)
2020: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22686036 (4 comments)
2020: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24531654 (11 comments)
2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20958786 (17 comments)
2020: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22686036 (4 comments)
2020: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24531654 (11 comments)
Two thoughts:
- OK, the poop knife claim in the story sounds incredibly weird, but what about using a dog's rib cage as a sled? It would not only be too small, but there's no way it could support a grown man's weight. It amazes me that anybody could ever take this story as anything other than a troll.
- I'm fascinated by the fact that, in the discussion section, the authors spend paragraphs justifying this work on the basis of how it affects narratives about the ingenuity of indigenous and prehistoric peoples. Says so much about the state of science.
- OK, the poop knife claim in the story sounds incredibly weird, but what about using a dog's rib cage as a sled? It would not only be too small, but there's no way it could support a grown man's weight. It amazes me that anybody could ever take this story as anything other than a troll.
- I'm fascinated by the fact that, in the discussion section, the authors spend paragraphs justifying this work on the basis of how it affects narratives about the ingenuity of indigenous and prehistoric peoples. Says so much about the state of science.
This directly links to a pdf, maybe want to warn people in the title. I'm not opening a random fkn pdf about poo that just automatically downloads.
It's literally a one pager;
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Volume 27, October 2019, 102002
with a hosted web version at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X1...
The Abstract outlines the goal of puncturing a myth:
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports Volume 27, October 2019, 102002
with a hosted web version at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X1...
The Abstract outlines the goal of puncturing a myth:
The ethnographic account of an Inuit man manufacturing a knife from his own frozen feces to butcher and disarticulate a dog has permeated both the academic literature and popular culture.
To evaluate the validity of this claim, we tested the basis of that account via experimental archaeology. Our experiments assessed the functionality of knives made from human feces in controlled conditions that provided optimal conditions for success.
However, they were not functional.
While much research has shown foragers to be technologically resourceful, innovative, and savvy, we suggest that this ethnographic account should no longer be used to support that narrative.
Appreciate the run-down on it, and may read later. But I tend to be wary when you click a link and suddenly a small file unexpectedly downloads.
Understandable - I pulled it down through a Qubes sandbox and the Convert to Trusted PDF tool
https://blog.invisiblethings.org/2013/02/21/converting-untru...
https://blog.invisiblethings.org/2013/02/21/converting-untru...
I wonder how they controlled for material properties of the... material.
It seems there it a lot of variability there, as a natural product.
It seems there it a lot of variability there, as a natural product.
(With all those sharp claws, carnassials and canines around, and he started playing with clay and saliva? guy, please...)
Done, thanks. The pdf is of a scientific article.
Damn! Going to have to bin that startup idea and go back to the drawing board. All that hard work down the toilet...
Pictures in the word doc linked to here [1]
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X1...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X1...
Ignobel Prize contender
They already won! https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2020
It really does seem like that's what they're aiming for, doesn't it?
Damn! you beat me to it.
"Failed to cut or slice..."
This is obviously a stabbing weapon. A spike would also fail to cut or slice. This is bad science.
A paper claiming that an account about shit is bullshit is, I think, the best representation of Elsevier's presence in academia.
>Knives from the ceramic molds failed to cut or slice the pig hide, leaving only streaks
The picture is pretty funny.
The picture is pretty funny.
They should have titled it "Cut the Crap."
Welp, good to know. I guess
MYTH BUSTED
No shit.
The perfect gift for the 1 percent