Everybody farts. And it's no secret that they're smelly, gross, and embaressing at times. But what if, instead of trying to hide our flatulence, we all just let it out?
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00:00 Before we get to today's episode,
00:02 we'd just like to give a huge shout-out
00:04 to our sponsor, Squarespace.
00:07 Everybody farts.
00:10 And it's no secret that they're smelly,
00:13 gross, and embarrassing at times.
00:16 But what if,
00:18 instead of trying to hide our flatulence,
00:21 we all just let it out?
00:25 What if everyone on Earth
00:28 decided to fart at exactly the same time?
00:32 People fart,
00:54 on average, 12 to 25 times a day,
00:58 producing a daily total
01:00 of just over one liter of gas.
01:02 Some people make close to two liters.
01:05 Luckily, the majority of them don't smell,
01:08 but the rest of them definitely do.
01:12 So what would happen
01:14 if the world decided not to fart
01:16 for a single day,
01:18 and then 7.8 billion people
01:21 released a massive trouser trumpet
01:23 at the exact same time?
01:26 But before we get to that,
01:28 we should probably understand
01:31 what our tooths are made of.
01:33 Your fart is made up of six different gases.
01:36 The majority of it is nitrogen.
01:39 Then we have some hydrogen,
01:41 carbon dioxide,
01:42 and who could forget, oxygen.
01:44 But there are two gases
01:46 that aren't as common
01:48 in your everyday stinker.
01:50 Depending on your diet,
01:51 you might have methane in your farts.
01:54 This is the chemical
01:55 that makes your farts flammable.
01:57 And next, there's sulfur.
02:00 This is what produces a fart's vile smell.
02:04 All these gases being released
02:06 into the air at the same time
02:08 can't be good, can it?
02:11 Well, if we all knew something like this
02:14 was going to happen,
02:15 we could prepare for it.
02:17 Everyone on the planet
02:18 could position themselves
02:19 so that they're not smelling
02:21 too many gross farts.
02:23 You could hide out in a field,
02:24 or on a balcony,
02:26 hoping to avoid the main stink of the gas.
02:29 And some people could prepare
02:31 by eating lots of dairy or beans
02:34 to help them produce the loudest
02:36 and smelliest fart they've ever had.
02:39 But what if we didn't know
02:41 this was going to happen,
02:42 and suddenly, everyone's bodies
02:45 let out their daily fart quota
02:47 all in one go?
02:49 Well, that's where things could
02:51 potentially get dangerous.
02:53 If you were in your bedroom
02:55 and let one out,
02:56 or in a park,
02:57 away from other people,
02:58 then you'd be perfectly fine.
03:00 But if you were in a densely packed area,
03:04 then things would be very different.
03:07 Imagine standing in a hot, crowded subway,
03:10 when suddenly the hundreds of passengers
03:12 on board all let out a giant stinker.
03:15 You'd have hundreds of liters
03:17 of nitrogen, hydrogen, methane, and sulfur
03:21 all packed into one subway car.
03:24 It would be incredibly loud,
03:26 and inhaling the smell
03:28 would be enough to make you pass out
03:30 if you're not careful.
03:32 And densely populated cities
03:34 like New York and Hong Kong
03:36 would experience a similar effect.
03:39 The millions of people
03:40 tightly packed into those areas
03:42 would all fart,
03:43 and produce millions of liters of gases.
03:46 The sounds coming from everyone's butt cheeks
03:49 would make your ears ring.
03:50 But being outside would definitely help
03:53 to keep your eardrums from being shattered.
03:56 Places like Italy and the Middle East
03:58 might be especially stinky,
04:01 since typical diets there
04:02 can produce a smellier booty burp.
04:06 The world would become the ultimate Dutch oven.
04:10 Oh God, that's so gross.
04:11 Why did I even say that?
04:13 I need to evaluate my life choices.
04:15 Maybe I should quit this VO thing
04:17 and start a website or something.
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05:06 Now, let's see what will happen to your body
05:08 with all this gas in the air.
05:11 At this point in one of our videos,
05:13 you're probably expecting everyone to die,
05:15 or the world to end.
05:17 But with everyone farting at the same time,
05:20 that wouldn't be the case.
05:22 Sure, there might be some deaths and injuries
05:25 from the gases and the volume of farts,
05:27 but the vast majority of people would be fine.
05:31 Eventually, the gases would dissipate,
05:33 and everything would get back to normal.
05:36 Not to mention, a lot of them
05:37 might not even stink,
05:39 as just 1% of our daily farts
05:42 have any sulfur in them.
05:44 And all the gases we let loose
05:47 wouldn't harm the planet either.
05:49 Think about it.
05:49 Everyone farts multiple times a day,
05:51 so even though we all did it at the same time,
05:54 it wouldn't make much of a difference.
05:56 We already expel these gases
05:58 into the air every day.
06:01 But what about all the methane
06:02 our farts produce?
06:04 Well, don't worry about that either,
06:06 as 50% of farts don't produce any methane.
06:10 So lighting a match
06:12 wouldn't produce an epic fireball explosion
06:15 out of nowhere.
06:17 All in all, this would be a smelly,
06:19 loud, and gross event,
06:21 but that's about it.
06:24 Now, what would happen if,
06:26 instead of farting,
06:28 you sat on the toilet for 24 hours?
06:32 Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.
06:37 (upbeat music)
06:40 (upbeat music)