Who Gives a Poop?: Surprising Science from One End to the Other

Scientists, engineers, veterinarians, even college students--people all over the world are discovering the power of poop. A guy in England powers a street lamp with pet poo. A scientist uses scat to solve the mystery of a vanishing cave-dwelling critter.

Undergrads turn astronaut waste into plastic - for use as a wrench on Mars Poop, doo-doo, scat, feces, whatever you call it, it's everywhere. And it's disgusting. But in this book, you'll see that this waste is packed with potential.

It's a window into the world of wildlife, and some people are willing to go to extremes to make use of this so-called crap. One woman spent three months videotaping elephants, giraffes, and rhinos pooping in the zoo. In a quest for precious cheetah poo another scientist army-crawled through the mud risking her life between an adult elephant and a water buffalo.

And every week an entire team of folks swallow their pride and deliver their own poop to medical facilities. There, someone swirls, separates, and ships it off to a hospital to be transplanted into another human. In journalistic style similar to Something Rotten, this middle grade narrative nonfiction follows the author as she asks the question: Who uses poo?

Although it is packed with potty humor, this narrative holds weighty matter too: The discovery of a nutrient cycle that powers the ocean ecosystem. Solutions for the energetic needs of our society. Poo even has the power to save human lives.

This uniquely crafted narrative nonfiction invites readers to follow the author into science labs, forests, hospitals, and landfills, as the author asks: Who uses poo? Poop is disgusting, but it's also packed with potential. One scientist spent months training a dog to track dung to better understand elephant birthing patterns.

Another discovered that mastodon poop years ago is the reason we enjoy pumpkin pie today. And every week, some folks deliver their own poop to medical facilities, where it is swirled, separated, and shipped off to a hospital to be transplanted into another human. There's even a train full of human poop sludge that's stuck without a home in Alabama.

This irreverent and engaging book shows that poop isn't just waste-and that dealing with it responsibly is our duty. This uniquely crafted narrative nonfiction invites readers to follow the author into science labs, forests, hospitals, and landfills, as the author asks: Who uses poo? Poop is disgusting, but it's also packed with potential.

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