In the name of science: Boffins build fart-tracking undies

"Rather than trusting volunteers to keep an honest diary of their daily emissions, researchers at the University of Maryland built a sensor that clips onto underwear and listens for the chemical calling card of a fart: hydrogen gas produced when gut microbes ferment carbohydrates. In other words, the so-called "Smart Underwear" quietly keeps tabs on every toot."

"Early results from trials with healthy volunteers have already blown one of digestive science's most persistent figures clear out of the water, and possibly the room. Participants averaged roughly 32 gas-release events per day, with individual totals ranging from just four to as many as 59. That's more than double the commonly cited estimate of around 14 daily expulsions."

"The project forms part of a larger research effort dubbed the "Human Flatus Atlas," an attempt to map what normal gas production actually looks like across different people, diets, and microbiomes. Volunteers in future studies will log their meals while the wearable quietly records the resulting intestinal after-effects."

Researchers at the University of Maryland developed a wearable sensor that clips onto underwear to objectively measure human gas production by detecting hydrogen gas produced when gut microbes ferment carbohydrates. Previous studies relied on unreliable methods including patient diaries, lab tests, and clinical observations that failed to capture everyday emissions and overnight activity. Early trial results from healthy volunteers showed participants averaged 32 gas-release events per day, ranging from 4 to 59 occurrences, significantly exceeding the commonly cited estimate of 14 daily expulsions. This discrepancy suggests self-reporting is an unreliable measurement method. The research is part of the larger "Human Flatus Atlas" project, which aims to map normal gas production patterns across different individuals, diets, and microbiomes.

Read at Theregister