When penguins pooh

This post is an adaptation and translation from Spanish of an older article I wrote on Blogger in 2015.

In December 2003, the scientific journal Polar Biology (Springer) published an article entitled Pressures produced when penguins pooh—calculations on avian defaecation.

Why Dr. Meyer-Rochow and Dr. Gál, the authors of this paper, decided to devote part of their lives to studying penguin guano is a mystery. However, their other articles, such as Why are water-seeking insects not attracted by mirages? or Food taboos: their origins and purposes, show that they have an innate ability to get research funding for whatever topic they set their minds to.

The article on penguin guano won the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize in fluid dynamics. These awards are given for research that first makes people laugh and then makes them think. Beyond curiosity, the article is interesting. Apparently, there are a few species of penguins that expel their droppings by applying pressure, which allows them to keep their nests clean while staying in place.

Research has made it possible to calculate this pressure, which can reach up to 60 kPa (kilopascals). To give you an idea, 60 kPa is a load equivalent to half the recommended pressure in a regulation soccer ball; or almost the pressure inside an incandescent light bulb; or even three times the pressure of the sound produced by the explosion of the Krakatoa volcano 160 km away.

So let's be careful: the next time we see the lifeless gaze of a penguin in a TV documentary, let's remember that underneath its tail is a small Krakatoa about to explode.

May 3, 2015