We may soon know a lot more about our internal activity thanks to a swallowable pill that tracks the covert happenings in the human gut.
A research team led by scientists at Australia's RMIT University developed the pill, which measures hydrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen gases in the gut in real time. This data can even be sent to a smartphone, which suggests the potential for a whole new generation of apps with names like "iFart" and "SmartToot."
The capsule is the size of a vitamin pill, and the first trials have already turned out some fascinating new information about what's happening in the human digestive tract.
"We found that the stomach releases oxidizing chemicals to break down and beat foreign compounds that are staying in the stomach for longer than usual," said study lead Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh with RMIT. Kalantar-zadeh suggested this could represent the first-ever observations of a "gastric protection system against foreign bodies."