Flaming Farts or the light farts on fire myth: we’re breaking wind on all those funny fart facts, including how often you fart, why farting is good for you, what makes farts smell when you pass gas, and that non-stop party discussion topic: can you light farts on fire (that ole pyroflatulence trick).
Where to listen to the Flaming Farts Or A Bunch Of Hot Air Podcast Episode
DISCLAIMER: If you’re wondering is fart lighting dangerous, the answer is YES. DO NOT TRY THIS. (Parents: you may want to preview this episode so your kids don’t get any ideas!)
SEE ALL PLACES YOU CAN LISTEN TO OUR FAMILY-FRIENDLY PODCAST (that aren’t all about farts)
SEE ALL PARENT BUSTERS EPISODES
Learning About How To Light Farts On Fire (or not) and More!
Want to add farting myths and facts to your learning with kids (because, who doesn’t)?
Highlights and Fact Corrections of the Farting Podcast:
*Gas-tight mylar pantaloons:
Ella mentions a farting study that used “gas-tight mylar pantaloons.” Pantaloons is type of pants that fit from the waist all the way down to the ankle. (SEE OLD FASHIONED TYPE PANTALOONS HERE) Mylar is a foil-looking polyester film (if you’ve ever seen those disposable emergency blankets, those are it!).
So gas-tight mylar pantaloons are fitted trousers made of that foil-like material… and trapped farts in. [insert appropriate eye-rolling here]
*How much methane do cow farts actually have?
We mentioned cow farts and flammable methane, but how much do cows actually fart?
Turns out? Cow “farts” are actually BURPS.
According to Iowa Farm Bureau:
“Cows actually burp out methane as their complex ruminant digestive systems break down plant materials, explains Dr. Sara Place, an animal scientist with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.”
*Why is your first fart the biggest fart of the day?
We didn’t have the answer to this in podcast, but we looked it up!
According to The Sleep Foundation:
“People commonly fart in their sleep, although they usually are not aware of it. Research suggests pressure in the anal sphincter muscle fluctuates in cycles throughout the day. This muscle is more relaxed during sleep, and it controls whether or not gas present in the large intestine is released. This muscle also spontaneously relaxes multiple times per hour in the morning. As a result, passing gas overnight or in the morning is common.”
*Do cats fart?
In the podcast, we mention our dogs farting (A LOT), but we weren’t sure about our cats farting…
“Cats do get gas. Like many other animals, a cat has gases inside its digestive tract, and this gas leaves the body via the rectum. Cats usually pass gas quietly and there isn’t much odor to it. “
*Do women really have a greater concentration of hydrogen sulfide in their farts than men, therefore making women’s farts smell worse?
According to Real Clear Science:
“In studies conducted by eminent flatulence researcher Michael Levitt, women’s farts consistently sported significantly greater concentrations of hydrogen sulfide. Odor judges have confirmed that — at similar volumes — this translates to a noticeably worse odor compared to men’s farts.”
Podcast Episode References and Resources
- National Institutes of Health
- KidsHealth.org
- ScienceDirect
- LWW.com
- ScienceABC
- New York Post
- Discover Magazine
- Huffington Post
- Annals.org
- Seventeen.com
- Thrillist.com
- Vox.com
Flaming Farts Or A Bunch Of Hot Air Podcast Episode Transcript
*apologies, but I accidentally made all of the names Ella and couldn’t change it back (yep, total noob mistake)
Jackie: (00:00)
Hey parents, Jackie here. I just wanted to give you a little disclaimer about this episode. You may want to listen to it beforehand, just so your kids don’t get any weird ideas.
[sound effect]: (00:11)
Don’t try this at home.
Ella: (00:14)
Hello. I am Ella and I’m here with my mother, Jackie and welcome to parent. Buster is a fun podcast where parents and kids can learn about weird things together and where we talk about pyro flatulence, but it is not advised today. Our title is flaming fart or a bunch of hot air. And before we do anything else, we’re going to give you our two truths and a lie.
[sound effect]: (00:40)
Please hold for a very important message.
Ella: (00:43)
So two truths and a lie work like this. Each episode we start with. Yep. You guessed it. Two truths. And one line about the topic that we’re talking about for the day.
Ella: (00:54)
You guess, which two things are true and which one is a lie,
Ella: (00:57)
Then listen to the podcast and see if you can determine the truth. Two of them and one lie. Listen to the end because we’ll give you the answers.
Ella: (01:06)
Oh, and hey parents, if you haven’t already pause the podcast and head over to parent busters.com to download the free Buster deduction sheets that you can use with each podcast,
Ella: (01:17)
There’s a place on the sheets that you can write down the two truths and a lie for every topic. And guess your answers before you listen, and you can write down other fun things that you learned during the podcast.
Ella: (01:29)
It’s just another fun way that you learn together with your kids. Okay? So we’re gonna start off with our two truths and a lie. Are you ready? I’m ready. Okay.
Ella: (01:40)
I have to just say, you know how I feel about farts? That is not my favorite topic, but I’m ready
Ella: (01:48)
As you pretend you don’t fart. Cuz you’re a perfectionist.
Ella: (01:50)
Perfectionist moms. Don’t fart.
Ella: (01:52)
That’s true. Okay. It’s scientifically. No, that’s not. That’s not scientifically backed up.
Ella: (01:59)
We’re too exhausted to fart. That’s what it is.
Ella: (02:03)
I feel like that would happen more. Okay. Let’s get on with our teachers
Ella: (02:07)
And the lie, two truths and the lie. Let’s hear them.
Ella: (02:15)
Number one, your fart flame can be blue. Number two, number two. The scientific name for fart is pyro flatulence. And number three, your farts don’t always stink.
Ella: (02:33)
Okay. Interesting. So again, be sure to write those down on your deduction sheets. If you’re following, along with us that way, if not, you can just listen all the way to the end of the up episode and we’ll give you the answers there, but you’ll probably be able to figure out you’ll I feel like it’s gonna be like this, the whole episode. Yep. You’ll probably be able to figure out the answers before we even get to the end. So, uh, I have a joke for you.
Ella: (03:00)
Okay. And then I have a gross fact after.
Ella: (03:02)
Oh, which one should we do?
Ella: (03:04)
First joke.
Jackie: (03:06)
Okay. What do you call a fart fairy.
Ella: (03:09)
Oh no. What
Jackie: (03:11)
Stinker bell.
Ella: (03:13)
I thought it was gonna be like the poop fairy, like tooth fairy.
Ella: (03:16)
You know, what’s so bad about fart jokes.
Ella: (03:19)
They stink.
Ella: (03:20)
Really
Ella: (03:21)
Seriously, they just, They leave just the general fog around the area. Okay. Okay. I’m gonna lighten the mood with a fact.
Ella: (03:31)
Go ahead. Lighten the mood.
Ella: (03:33)
Lighten the mood, uh…
Ella: (03:35)
I don’t think it could get any lighter, but okay.
Ella: (03:38)
This is how mature we are. Um, did you know that the average person farts 10 to 20 times a day…
Ella: (03:49)
Not me, but…
Ella: (03:51)
I didn’t say mom,
Ella: (03:52)
I’m around you and your father. So I believe that.
Ella: (03:56)
And our dog.
Ella: (03:57)
Oh,
Ella: (03:58)
Oh boy.
Ella: (03:59)
Yeah. Um, should we tell, I struggled with wanting to tell this because I might get in trouble from my brother and my mom
Ella: (04:07)
Uhoh
Ella: (04:08)
Um,
Ella: (04:09)
Oh no.
Ella: (04:10)
So we came about this episode, flaming farts or a bunch of hot air. Should I tell this story?
Ella: (04:18)
Yeah, go ahead. Do it.
Ella: (04:19)
Okay. Why not? So it came about, because once again, we were telling Ella all the weird things that our parents or grandparents would tell us when we were growing up. And one of the things I told Ella was that when I was young, my grandfather told my cousin and my brother who were also young, um, that they could light their farts on fire. Huh. And it just became a thing for years and years that we talked about or like, oh, you can light your farts on fire. How do you light your farts on fire?
Ella: (04:59)
Why would you want to know you?
Ella: (05:01)
We just wanna say, this is not a thing.
[sound effect]: (05:05)
Don’t Try this at home.
Ella: (05:05)
We’re just telling you that. For some reason, it’s not just my grandpa that told my cousin and brother, this is kind of a thing that people talk about apparently, because when we brought it up, other people knew what we were talking about, which is bizarre.
Ella: (05:25)
Yeah.
Ella: (05:26)
Yeah. That’s how this episode came about. So you can thank my grandpa. Wow. Um, thank
Ella: (05:33)
You for an amazing episode idea. Amazing. Okay. Amazing. Yeah.
Ella: (05:38)
Amazing. Might be pushing it. But did you know that there is a scientific name for farting huh? Or farts it’s called flatulence
Ella: (05:45)
Flatulence,
Ella: (05:46)
But there are also a whole bunch of other names for farts.
Ella: (05:50)
Oh, you know, what’s one, I’ve heard what it’s terrible, but blowing the brown bugle,
Ella: (05:56)
Uh, gas.
Ella: (05:57)
Ella: (05:58)
passing wind
Ella: (06:00)
Crop dusting,
Ella: (06:02)
Air biscuit.
Ella: (06:04)
And then, you know, just fart, which…
Ella: (06:06)
Breaking wind.
Ella: (06:07)
Oh
Ella: (06:08)
Boy. Whole bunch of other things. And if you have another name for them that we didn’t cover go over to our website and let us know because that’s the kind of weird podcast that we are.
Ella: (06:18)
That’s how amazing we are. We wanna know the names for farts you
Ella: (06:21)
Use. Yes. But really, uh, a fart is made up of a really, truly made up of a bunch of different gases that your body’s trying to get rid of like nitrogen oxygen, um, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and also methane. And some of these gases come from food when you break them down, like when you eat them and other gases come from your body as the food MOS through your system,
Ella: (06:44)
You know, what’s one of the reasons that your farts stink.
Ella: (06:48)
Oh, uh, tell me,
Ella: (06:52)
Well it’s can be the very small amount of hydrogen sulfide that is often in your farts, which yeah. It’s, it’s very stinking. Yeah. Gross. Also in a quote from vox.com, the potent stink research has found is largely due to the 1% or so of compounds with sulfur in them, such as hydrogen sulfide, this sort of research itself is pretty amazing. One experiment involved. Two people judging the smelliness of farts of 16 participants.
Ella: (07:27)
I do not want that job.
Ella: (07:28)
Who’d been fed beans
Ella: (07:30)
Gross.
Ella: (07:31)
And then collected with the help of gas-tight Mylar Pantaloons. Yeah,
Ella: (07:39)
No, I know that just left a visual for me that I’ll never be able to scrub for my brain,
Ella: (07:44)
But balloons.
Ella: (07:50)
So when all those gasses build up in your system, they have to escape. And like you said, some of them don’t smell and some of them smell really bad. And it’s just the different level of those gasses in your system. And the combination of those gasses.
Ella: (08:06)
It’s mostly the, uh, hydrogen sulfide
Ella: (08:09)
Though. Whoa, what makes you hard besides the build up of those gases? There are other things do you know,
Ella: (08:17)
Sometimes it can be gulping can be like gulping air down, uh, your non lung pipe, the other pipe, uh, and that, you know, goes through your stomach and just kind of gets stuck in there.
Ella: (08:33)
Also fizzy carbonated drinks. Yeah. This will be no shock to anyone beans. Ooh. I think we all know greasy fried fried foods. Ugh, can give you gas and they can also make your farts smell worse because they release more gases as your body breaks them down. And also some people are lactose intolerant, so they can’t eat dairy products. So things like milk and ice cream and cheese, um, can make them a little extra farty. Guess what else? I found out what? According to discover magazine, only about 1% of farts have smell.
Ella: (09:12)
I was about to say,
Ella: (09:14)
No, I …
Ella: (09:15)
Actually, I was gonna say most of our farts, about 99% are odorless. They’re completely smell-less
Ella: (09:21)
How can that be? I live with two dogs who are the stinkiest dogs. So you’re trying to tell me that 99% of their farts aren’t smelling.
Ella: (