Here’s a ‘research study’ that is actually lighthearted. The research was conducted by six pediatricians who have the desire to answer the one burning question: how long does it take to pass out a small plastic toy if it was swallowed – if it passes out at all. For this experiment, the six pediatricians, namely Tessa Davis, Henry Goldstein, Katie Knight, Grace SY Leo, Damian Roland and Andrew Tagg, each intentionally swallowed a LEGO minifigure head.
But why a LEGO minifigure head? Well, they did not say, but I reckon LEGO was nominated to be the non-food of choice because LEGO is arguably one of the most popular toy. According to these curious pediatricians, small toys are the second most commonly swallowed objects (by children, obviously) after coins. While the latter already has a fair amount of research, the former is lacking of data and hence, this rather wacky study.
Anyways, the six test subjects each ingest a yellow LEGO minifigure head and wait it out. Then… it happened. Each test subject undertook the dirty job of digging through their poop in search for the LEGO head and the result? The experiment yielded a Found and Retrieved Time (FART) score of 1.71 days. So yeah. Not really surprisingly, it does get passed out like any indigestible object. However, apparently, one of them failed to locate the object after two days. Perhaps, this particular person has the super power of digesting plastic? Like, who knows, right?
Clearly, this is so-called study was done in the name of fun. The result is in no way conclusive because, firstly, the sample size is way too small, and the subjects were grown ups, not children who would be the likely group to ingest plastic objects. But we love how they make it so lighthearted with acronyms like FART and how they leave “no turd was left unturned” in search for the missing LEGO head. More in depth details of the experiment can be found over at the team’s blog, Don’t Forget the Bubbles.
There is also a video prove of the pediatricians swallowing the LEGO heads, but thankfully, the second part of the research, i.e. poking around poops, was omitted. So, it is perfectly fine to watch the video while you are having your dinner.
Source: GeekTyrant.
