Flush With Excitement

Big Picture Science

The toilet: A ubiquitous appliance that dates to the time of Shakespeare. But billions of people around the world still lack modern sanitation infrastructure. And the incentive to modernize includes the possibility that recycling human waste could help with conservation efforts, energy generation, and even medicine.

Also, a sixth-grader puts lipstick on cats’ bottoms to map places their tush has touched, and in Michigan, why peeing on the peonies can be a good thing.

Guests:

• Kaeden Henry – Sixth grade student in Tennessee.
• Kerry Griffin – Mother of Kaeden Henry; holds a doctorate in animal behavior.
• Yvette Johnson-Walker – Clinical Instructor in Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Chelsea Wald – Science and environmental journalist, and author of Pipe Dreams: The Urgent Global Quest to Transform the Toilet.
• Nancy Love – Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan

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