Slashdot Mirror


Science Unlocks The Mystery Of Belly Button Lint

After three years of research, including examining 503 pieces of fluff from his own belly button, Georg Steinhauser has discovered a type of body hair that traps stray pieces of lint and draws them into the navel. Dr Steinhauser's observations showed that "small pieces of fluff first form in the hair and then end up in the navel at the end of the day." Chemical analysis revealed the pieces of fluff were not just made up of cotton from clothing. Wrapped up in the lint were also flecks of dead skin, fat, sweat and dust. Unfortunately, further study has failed to yield a hair or fiber that would give Dr. Steinhauser the last three years of his life back.

14 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. Well, now I can sleep at night by dmmiller2k · · Score: 5, Funny

    A question that has been keeping me up nights my whole life.

    --

    "No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up." -- Lily Tomlin

  2. Re:Stop the Presses! by siriuskase · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is one of those guys that was navel gazing back in the 60's and figured out how to get a PHD out of it.

    --
    If you must moderate, please moderate as irrelevent, not something bad, because I'm sure someone will find this interest
  3. Please listen to your readers. by Drakin020 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please Slashdot, keep this kind of stuff off the front page or at-least make it like a sub-post. (Those little mini-categories)

    Is this how you want a sophisticated site to look like when a new user views it?

    --
    The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
    1. Re:Please listen to your readers. by Taimat · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sophisticated? You must be new here...

      --
      The above comments are not guaranteed to make sense to anyone other than the author...
    2. Re:Please listen to your readers. by yoshi_mon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What is so very wrong with adding a bit of humor to life?

      I've been here on /. for a long time now. Adding the silly topic has been the norm every now and then.

      Sorry if you noobs can't take it.

      --

      Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
  4. Re:Find the responsible genes by AutopsyReport · · Score: 4, Funny

    When your shirt doesn't go past your belly button, it's no doubt you don't have lint problems. The world might just be a cleaner place if we had your genes.

    Wait, is it too late to retract my last statement?

    --

    For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.

  5. I have mod points by the_Bionic_lemming · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have mod points,How do I mod bomb the article into oblivion?

    --
    _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
    1. Re:I have mod points by Hack'n'Slash · · Score: 5, Funny

      You can't, you already replied to it, indicating you have interest in the topic. :)

  6. Re:Stop the Presses! by PMuse · · Score: 4, Funny

    ObPCU:

    samzenpus: What's he doin?
    idle: He's finishing his senior thesis. Steinhauser is trying to prove the hair-free theory: a person with no belly hair does not accumulate naval lint.
    samzenpus: That's his thesis?
    idle: Yes! That's the beauty of college these days, slashdotter! You can major in naval lint if you know how to bullshit.

    --
    "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
  7. Beat the rush? by secretplans · · Score: 5, Funny

    If I were a subscriber I could have seen this story early!

  8. Re:Please, for the love of god, stop complaining by Valdrax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because it's on the freaking front page. It's easy to either overlook the "Idle" tag in the title, when you're just skimming the story bodies or to get curious despite knowing better. I mean, it's like telling someone not to think of elephants -- it's too late already.

    So why not complain? Idle is on rare occasions amusing to read when you've exhausted everything *else* that you normally read online, but it's not like it's "A-list" material* that deserves to be on the front page.

    * Even for relative definitions of "A-list" material.

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  9. Study Ignores The Important Issue by Drasil · · Score: 4, Funny

    ie. Why is belly button fluff predominantly blue? I believe that the anatomical feature known as a 'navel' or 'belly button' is in actual fact a previously unrecognised organ that serves a vital role in the human body.

    As we all know, blood is red. Indeed the red colour of blood is integral to the role it plays in the body. I propose that the belly button is actually a chromatic lung which is capable of absorbing redness from the environment into the blood and similarly expelling excess blueness in order to maintain a healthy balance. This may be the reason that environments containing excess blueness cause people to feel cold: the blood looses redness, in turn diminishing it's oxygen carrying capacity leading to an overall reduction in the metabolism that actually serves to lower body temperature.

    Interestingly, there are reports that the navel fluff of aristocrats has a reddish hue, leading to speculation that they are in fact a distinct species. This has yet to be demonstrated under laboratory conditions and remains a controversial area of research.

  10. ObJoke by A+nonymous+Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Skim the headline and move along ... two seconds.

    Post about it being a waste of time, twice ... two minutes.

    Thrill other slashdotters with the hypocrisy of it all .... priceless!

  11. Re:Stop the Presses! by flyingsquid · · Score: 4, Funny
    naval lint

    No, the study is on navel lint, the lint that accumulates in the navel. Naval lint would be the lint that accumulates on warships, or on members of the Navy. For instance, if you take the wetsuit of a SEAL and put it in the drier, and then clean out the lint trap, the result will be naval lint. Now, if you clean out the belly button of an Admiral, the result is naval navel lint. Or perhaps navel naval lint.