New research – published today in our aptly named journal @SoftMatter, digests previous work demonstrating that wombat poo forms its distinctive shape within the wombat’s intestines, not at the, er, point of exit as previously thought. @ScienceMagazine https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/how-do-wombats-poop-cubes-scientists-get-bottom-mystery

The discovery was made by an international team – Patricia Yang, Scott Carver and David Hu, along with their teams @GeorgiaTech and @UTAS_ and in collaboration with Taronga Conservation Society @tarongazoo.

#sciencetwitter #ScienceMatters #wombats

This research is not just a great party conversation – it could have important implications for human health.

Find the full article here [ https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/sm/d0sm01230k#!divAbstract] Great reading material for when you’re... you get the point :p #wombats #sciencetwitter

Patricia Yang said “One of the early symptoms of colon #cancer is that part of the colon can become stiff. It’s possible then that this form an edge or unusual shape in the faeces and could be an early indicator about the health of the colon.”

Now, we're not allowed to have favourite researchers because, well, chemistry, but if we had our arms really twisted, those who make human-sized wombat and poo costumes for them and their kids are probably quite high on the list... #wombats

It’s important to note that any team responsible for research on Australian marsupials have had to work for years to get the right koalifications... Dr Hu and Dr Yang have previously won an @ignobel for their research on the duration of animal urination! #wombats