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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Orders Up 50 Gallons of Synthetic Poop for Contest

Posted by on Aug 3, 2012 in OMGWTFLOL | 1 comment

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation thinks it’s high time that we lent our modern technology to the often ignored field of toilet science.

Though I had never honestly given it much thought, it was not surprising to learn that the flush toilet has rarely been innovated upon since its inception nearly 200 years ago. Surely we can do better, right?

Why do we even need to reinvent the toilet? First, there hasn’t been much serious innovation in the flush toilet for nearly 200 years. In public health terms, the flush toilet has improved health immensely; it has done a phenomenal job saving lives by helping safely dispose of urine, feces and nasty pathogens. But, it uses a lot of water, and isn’t a realistic solution for people in the developing world, where pipes aren’t already under neighborhoods to carry away the water and sewage, and there isn’t the money and electricity needed to treat sewage properly. Too many people still do not have access to a toilet. How many people? We’re talking about 2.5 billion people.

Well, OK. That’s sort of what I just said, but yes.

Which brings us to the B.M. (get it???) Reinvent the Toilet Fair on August 14 and 15, where competitors will hopefully provide the foundation with a working prototype for the toilet of tomorrow!

To demonstrate the efficacy of the prototypes on display, the Gates Foundation has ordered up 50 gallons of synthetic poop – a mixture of soybean paste and rice pressed through a device not unlike a sausage maker – to be used during the competition.

Gosh, it all sounds so delicious!

Stay tuned…for the Toilet of Tomorrow!

(via Seattle PI, Impatient Optimists)