Self contained ignition

[Pattree]

At the back of my weekly New Scientist magazine is a whimsical section called “Last Word”. It’s where’s the science based cartoons and odd discoveries appear.
Another feature consists of questions asked by readers to which answers are provided by other readers. I have occasionally answered one of these questions and even more occasionally my answer has been published.

I shall not attempt this week’s question but shall be interested in the answer:



Is it feasible to start a fire with a fart and a static spark from human hair?

 

[TeeDee]

And here at last is the truth behind unsolved Spontaneous Human Combustion cases.

 

[Van-Wild]

I feel an experiment coming one. But how would one generate the static? Assuming the hair would be erm.... closely embedded near the fart....

 

[demented dale]

Yes! I have done it but now I have a skinhead so cant repeat it

 

[demented dale]

I feel an experiment coming one. But how would one generate the static? Assuming the hair would be erm.... closely embedded near the fart....

when you feel a fart brewing you rub your head vigorously with a towel then extract a hair and correctly place it. For guaranteed combustion the flow of gas must be regulated. If you blow too hard it will extinguish the flame x

 

[demented dale]

At the back of my weekly New Scientist magazine is a whimsical section called “Last Word”. It’s where’s the science based cartoons and odd discoveries appear.
Another feature consists of questions asked by readers to which answers are provided by other readers. I have occasionally answered one of these questions and even more occasionally my answer has been published.

I shall not attempt this week’s question but shall be interested in the answer:

View attachment 89440

Is it feasible to start a fire with a fart and a static spark from human hai

so we have to wait a week to find out the answer. I will have forgot about it by then. can you pm please with it next week and thank you for the important work you are engaging us in. x

 

[Pattree]

Sorry Dale,
It won’t be next week. It takes several weeks between submission of an answer to publication of useful (checked) answers. It may be whimsical but it’s accurate. They published one of mine but only after agreeing a correction. Apparently I can’t tell a femto from a pico (which is a thousand times bigger. Ho, as they say, hum.)

I’m impressed @demented dale. It will be very interesting if the specialists say it can’t be done

Edited to add:
I won’t be answering this one. If I don’t know the answer then I don’t attempt it.

 

[Wildgoose]

Sorry Dale,
It won’t be next week. It takes several weeks between submission of an answer to publication of useful (checked) answers. It may be whimsical but it’s accurate. They published one of mine but only after agreeing a correction. Apparently I can’t tell a femto from a pico (which is a thousand times bigger. Ho, as they say, hum.)

I’m impressed @demented dale. It will be very interesting if the specialists say it can’t be done

Edited to add:
I won’t be answering this one. If I don’t know the answer then I don’t attempt it.

Well if Dale sends you a video proving it to be true….

 

[TeeDee]

I feel an experiment coming one. But how would one generate the static? Assuming the hair would be erm.... closely embedded near the fart....

I Immac and bleach that area so don't look at me to be a guinea pig.

#pristine.

 

[Pattree]

Well if Dale sends you a video proving it to be true….

I don’t doubt Dale for a minute.
I question the expertise of any scientists that write in with an answer. I bet THEY don’t have research evidence.

I’d be intrigued to hear an AI answer this question.

I Immac and bleach that area so don't look at me to be a guinea pig.

#pristine.

If you are all shiny then you may have reversed the polarity and rubbing a cat there should produce a spark. I’m pretty sure that there wouldn’t be a microbe in sight if you were successful.

As you stove experts know well: An NRV (non return valve) is essential ppe for this experiment!

 

[Jared]

ChatGPT's response

Conclusion​

While theoretically possible under very controlled conditions with high concentrations of flammable gases and a sufficiently strong spark, in practice, it's highly unlikely that a static spark from human hair would ignite a fart and start a fire.

ChatGPT

A conversational AI system that listens, learns, and challenges

chatgpt.com

 

[Pattree]

Thanks for that @Jared . That is the first time I’ve ever knowingly seen an AI response.

Well I think we know that it’s highly unlikely given the number of incidences reported

I think we know that it is theoretically possible because the internal combustion engine works.

What we needed was experience and citation.

 

[Jared]

Asked follow up questions

ChatGPT

A conversational AI system that listens, learns, and challenges

chatgpt.com

Closest incidents have been in medical settings which involved electrocautery or lasers.

​

 

[forrestdweller]

Yes! I have done it but now I have a skinhead so cant repeat it

how many helpings of beans did it require to accumulate the necessary fuel?!

 

[bearbait]

Well, having got this far in the thread, I'm wondering if some of us should either halve or double their medication...

 

[demented dale]

At the back of my weekly New Scientist magazine is a whimsical section called “Last Word”. It’s where’s the science based cartoons and odd discoveries appear.
Another feature consists of questions asked by readers to which answers are provided by other readers. I have occasionally answered one of these questions and even more occasionally my answer has been published.

I shall not attempt this week’s question but shall be interested in the answer:

View attachment 89440

Is it feasible to start a fire with a fart and a static spark from human hair?

it works with a ferro rod. ive just done it.

 

[Pattree]

Bloody hell Dale! Be careful mate; that’s 3000C sparks shooting around your nethers quite apart from ignition (and take off).

 

[demented dale]

Bloody hell Dale! Be careful mate; that’s 3000C sparks shooting around your nethers quite apart from ignition (and take off).

Nah. I used a funnel and my mate did the ferro rod. controlled experiment. we had hard hats and everything . x

 

[Toddy]

The apocryphal tale of the squaddie stretchered backside upwards into an army ward and a plummy voiced Matron is heard saying, "Oh God ! they've been lighting their farts again, haven't they ?"

All well and good until there's a vacuum effect, or reverse chimney

Truthfully, I cannot see a bushcraft application for this.
Dried sh1t yes, it burns like 'prairie coals' apparently, but raw gas is just feeding the greenhouse emissions.

 

[Pattree]

@Toddy
I don’t think the NS questioner was envisaging a heating system; just a fire starter.

Edited to add:
Toddy: if it’s coming it’s coming. The difference that fire makes is that it reduces the % of methane and increases the % of CO2. On balance I think that’s an improvement.

@demented dale
Quite right mate. No one said that the hair and the fart had to belong to the same person.