{"id":1971111,"date":"2026-06-03T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1971111"},"modified":"2026-06-03T12:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:00:35","slug":"i-wore-a-smart-fart-wearable-for-three-days-heres-what-i-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1971111","title":{"rendered":"I Wore a Smart Fart Wearable for Three Days. Here\u2019s What I Learned"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Fart-Underwear-Image-1200&#215;675.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"post-2000760032 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-gadgets tag-farting tag-gut-health tag-microbiomes tag-the-next-interface tag-wearables\">\n<div class=\"entry-content prose dark:prose-invert lg:prose-xl prose-main dark:prose-main\">\n<p>My mornings are fairly consistent, thanks largely to the furry alarm clock that demands breakfast at 7 a.m. sharp, my cat Cheddar. The last few days, though, I\u2019ve had to add a novel item to my morning ritual: carefully sticking a nickle-sized device onto my underwear so that it can track my farts for the next 21 or so hours. Ah, but don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s all in the name of science.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve now had the opportunity\u2014nay, the privilege\u2014to test out the Smart Underwear wearable developed by researchers at the University of Maryland, led by Brantley Hall. Hall and his team are using the device and hundreds of eager volunteers to answer the many enduring questions surrounding our flatulence. What they learn will not only shed light on a vital biological function we rarely discuss in polite company, it could someday help people improve their gut microbiome and health.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote text-center\">\u201cWhat we\u2019re measuring is the microbiology that\u2019s happening in your gut.\u201d<\/aside>\n<h2>Fartology<\/h2>\n<p>Bar none, the first question my friends and family asked when I mentioned my little experiment was: Why? Why are scientists even bothering to study our farts in the first place? It\u2019s a query that Hall is well used to, and he\u2019s got a succinct response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe short-term goal of this project right now is to set the baseline,\u201d he told me over Zoom. \u201cWe don\u2019t really have an up-to-date view of what the normal flatulence pattern is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say no one has tried to figure out our farts before. Gastroenterologist Michael D. Levitt dedicated roughly seven decades of his life to studying flatulence until retiring in 2023\u2014so much so that he became known as Dr. Farts. Levitt\u2019s pioneering work in the field, comprised of more than 200 research articles, revealed certain mysteries about farting, including its usual gas composition. He helped confirm that only a small percentage of these gases, roughly 1%, actually account for a fart\u2019s notorious smell and that these stinky gases are sulfur-based.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the guy whose shoulders we\u2019re standing on,\u201d Hall said of Levitt.<\/p>\n<p>Important as Levitt and others\u2019 research has been, it\u2019s largely based on people\u2019s self-reporting of their farting habits or the use of tubes directly inserted into people\u2019s rear ends to collect farts for analysis. People\u2019s memories can be foggy even under the best circumstances. And while rectal devices might be a lot more accurate, they\u2019re not people-friendly, to put it lightly. The Smart Underwear now provides a much easier way to keep an eye on our farts than Levitt\u2019s butt tubes.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote text-center\">\u201cLong term, there\u2019s the potential to recode our microbiome to produce less gas.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>Much like a wayward squeak on a first date, though, Hall\u2019s career in fartology wasn\u2019t intentional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t set out to be a fart scientist. I\u2019m actually a mechanistic microbiologist. But what we\u2019re measuring is the microbiology that\u2019s happening in your gut,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>While sulfur is the culprit behind a fart\u2019s stink, the team\u2019s device specifically senses the large amounts of hydrogen found in a fart. This hydrogen is exclusively created by certain bacteria that live in our gut as a product of fermentation. Some of it leaves the body via our breathing or burps, but the majority comes out in our farts. Thus, the detection of hydrogen is not only a strong signal for someone having just farted\u2014it\u2019s one that can tell us a lot about the gut bacteria that make it.<\/p>\n<p>Hall\u2019s team was originally trying to study microbial fermentation through sensors that could detect the hydrogen produced by bacteria in an oxygen-free, or anaerobic, chamber. The sensors didn\u2019t seem to work in these chambers, however. So, in a moment of equal parts inspiration and frustration, Hall literally put the device down his pants and farted on it\u2014which produced a huge, clear signal. As it turns out, the sensor needed oxygen to work, and from there, the researchers realized they had created an ideal fart detector.<\/p>\n<h2>The Human Flatus Atlas<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766572\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766572\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766572\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-01.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 01\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766572\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The team\u2019s work eventually led them to the Human Flatus Atlas, a project billed as the world\u2019s \u201cfirst scientific expedition\u201d into farting (flatus is technically the medical term for the gas that builds up in our intestines).<\/p>\n<p>The researchers initially produced a batch of 800 devices for the project, which started in February. The interest from potential volunteers was so high, however, that they soon had to temporarily pause enrollment. Despite that, Hall was kind enough to provide me with two spare copies of the wearable.<\/p>\n<p>The current device\u2014now in its 13th or so iteration\u2014is far less clunkier to wear than the original created more than five years ago. Over Zoom, Hall showed off the V1 Smart Underwear, a clunky-looking device with wires coming out of it, along with a clip that\u2019s supposed to be attached to your belt. Other versions used double-sided tape to do the trick, which volunteers still hated, Hall said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766575\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766575\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766575\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-14.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 14\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766575\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Smart Underwear sensor is attached to your underwear using these button clips. \u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Smart Underwear these days is a small light device that\u2019s attached to the center of your underwear with a simple button clip. The device goes on the bottom surface of the underwear and connects through the fabric to the clip on the other side (in case of thicker underwear, two sizes of clip are included). Though I did have a little trouble attaching the device on the first day, it quickly became a snap. And true to Hall\u2019s reassurance early on, actually wearing the device was completely free of any discomfort across all three days of use. Honestly, there were chunks of the day where I forgot I even had it on.<\/p>\n<p>I followed the same procedure as the study participants. In the morning, I charged the device with a provided charger and connected it to the team\u2019s accompanying app, where data from the previous day would be sent to; then I would start a new session of data collection. Though the device tracks farts all on its own, the study does ask people to record when and what they\u2019re eating via a photo. This allows the device to see how long after eating it takes for people\u2019s farts to bubble up. Based on the frequency and intensity of these farts, it can also quantify how metabolically active your microbiome was that day.<\/p>\n<h2>Lessons from farting<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766583\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766583\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766583\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-17.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 17\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766583\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Thankfully, I\u2019ve never considered myself an overly gassy person. That said, there certainly have been times when I\u2019ve regretted the ingestion of certain foods, particularly dairy, over the bloating and gas they can cause.<\/p>\n<p>So while I wasn\u2019t expecting to be a farting champ, I did think my diet would leave plenty to be counted. In fact, on Hall\u2019s suggestion, I planned to briefly try out a low FODMAP diet on the last day of the experiment. FODMAP is short for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. They\u2019re basically carbohydrates that can\u2019t be fully digested by the body, so they\u2019re instead broken down by our gut bacteria. High FODMAP foods like dairy, high fructose corn syrup, and highly processed meats are sometimes linked to <span class=\"svelte-1fz0gqk\">irritable bowel syndrome or other gut issues, and a low FODMAP diet can be used to temporarily reduce symptoms and identify specific triggers for chronic gut problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote text-center\">\u201cI get a lot of emails with very detailed stories about people\u2019s fart history. So it\u2019s been a lot of fun, too.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>To my pleasant surprise, my first day was light on farts, even though I indulged in my favorite beverage as of late: a delicious large iced tea with milk. The device tracked nine farts that day. The second day, I ate even more foods I\u2019ve personally linked to gas, like buffalo wings, which did seem to boost my count (23 farts). By day three, I went back to my usual diet and only had three farts total.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it\u2019s possible that I somehow borked up the device\u2019s data collection. The results of all three days lined up with my subjective recollections, though, and I was definitely paying more attention to my farts than usual. Given that I\u2019m a 37-year-old man with no major health conditions, digestive or otherwise, it\u2019s also probably not too surprising that my fart activity is relatively low.<\/p>\n<p>Broadly speaking, the team\u2019s research has already started to question some common notions about farting.<\/p>\n<p>In a recently published pilot study, for instance, the researchers tracked the farts of 19 healthy adult volunteers. On average, they found, the volunteers farted 32 times a day\u2014roughly twice the amount reported by the studies back in Levitt\u2019s heyday. There was plenty of variation between the volunteers as well: the single lowest fart count in a day was four, while the highest was a whopping 59 \u201cflatus events.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In early May, the researchers also presented preliminary data from a subset of volunteers. Out of 37 people, they identified 24 who seemed to have lactose intolerance, based on increased microbiome activity after they consumed dairy. Yet only 12 of these people correctly reported they farted more post-lactose (22 did). And the team\u2019s research so far, according to Hall, suggests that some people are especially bad at gauging their fart levels, namely those who think they\u2019re excessively farting. That\u2019s important, since it might mean people who visit their doctor over excessive farting actually need different treatments that aren\u2019t simply focused on gassiness. All these findings will have to be vetted further with more data from the full project, of course.<\/p>\n<p>As silly as fart tracking might sound, Hall and his team are hopeful their work really can benefit people. \u201cBy adding this dimension of objectivity, we can help advance care,\u201d he said. Down the road, their research might even boost cancer prevention efforts.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766574\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766574\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766574\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-07.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 07\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766574\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hall notes that colorectal cancer is negatively linked to fiber consumption, such that people who eat the most fiber are less likely to develop it. Right now, 95% of Americans probably aren\u2019t getting enough daily fiber intake. And one reason why, at least for some people, is that high fiber diets can cause the gut microbiome to churn out ample amounts of gas, bloating, and farting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLong term, there\u2019s the potential to recode our microbiome to produce less gas,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something we\u2019re going to do tomorrow. But by understanding how electron flow happens in the microbiome, we think we can measure then recode it so that people can eat healthy, high-fiber diets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hall and fellow UMN researcher Santiago Botasini have co-founded the company Ventoscity LLC to eventually commercialize their technology. For now, the team is still working on the small stuff. By this summer, they\u2019re hoping to release data from the first large batch of volunteers, roughly 500 people. They\u2019ve also upgraded the casing from the version I received (no more 3D printing), and they\u2019re looking to detect more gases through different sensors or techniques (carbon dioxide and methane are other byproducts of gut bacteria, while nitrogen and oxygen are found in farts, too). Eventually, the Human Flatus Atlas itself might enroll thousands of participants, and the team already has a hefty waiting list to pick from.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was about 8,000 right away in the first couple weeks. And it\u2019s been like 50 people per day ever since. So it\u2019s weirdly not slowed down,\u201d Hall said of the people signing up to be potential volunteers.<\/p>\n<p>My few days with the Smart Underwear have left me truly appreciative of my farts, along with the microbial alchemy that makes them possible. And the immediate buzz surrounding the project shows just how curious we are about the gas we pass. Based on the many responses that Hall has gotten from people around the world, the cultural prudishness surrounding farting really seems to be more of an American thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met someone from Vietnam and they were talking about how they just let them rip at the table. And it\u2019s not something that they even discuss. It\u2019s funny, and they just let it go. I think it\u2019s so humanizing and people want to talk about it,\u201d he said. \u201cI get a lot of emails with very detailed stories about people\u2019s fart history. So it\u2019s been a lot of fun, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><em>Gizmodo\u2019s <strong>The Next Interface<\/strong> is a weekly series that explores the exciting\u2014and perplexing\u2014world of wearables in all of its evolving form factors. From fitness bands and smartwatches that track your heart rate to wireless earbuds and headbands that read your brainwaves to smart glasses that shove the internet closer than ever to your eyeballs, we\u2019ll analyze them all with optimism and a healthy dose of skepticism.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"entry-content prose dark:prose-invert lg:prose-xl prose-main dark:prose-main\">\n<p>My mornings are fairly consistent, thanks largely to the furry alarm clock that demands breakfast at 7 a.m. sharp, my cat Cheddar. The last few days, though, I\u2019ve had to add a novel item to my morning ritual: carefully sticking a nickle-sized device onto my underwear so that it can track my farts for the next 21 or so hours. Ah, but don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s all in the name of science.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve now had the opportunity\u2014nay, the privilege\u2014to test out the Smart Underwear wearable developed by researchers at the University of Maryland, led by Brantley Hall. Hall and his team are using the device and hundreds of eager volunteers to answer the many enduring questions surrounding our flatulence. What they learn will not only shed light on a vital biological function we rarely discuss in polite company, it could someday help people improve their gut microbiome and health.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote text-center\">\u201cWhat we\u2019re measuring is the microbiology that\u2019s happening in your gut.\u201d<\/aside>\n<h2>Fartology<\/h2>\n<p>Bar none, the first question my friends and family asked when I mentioned my little experiment was: Why? Why are scientists even bothering to study our farts in the first place? It\u2019s a query that Hall is well used to, and he\u2019s got a succinct response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe short-term goal of this project right now is to set the baseline,\u201d he told me over Zoom. \u201cWe don\u2019t really have an up-to-date view of what the normal flatulence pattern is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say no one has tried to figure out our farts before. Gastroenterologist Michael D. Levitt dedicated roughly seven decades of his life to studying flatulence until retiring in 2023\u2014so much so that he became known as Dr. Farts. Levitt\u2019s pioneering work in the field, comprised of more than 200 research articles, revealed certain mysteries about farting, including its usual gas composition. He helped confirm that only a small percentage of these gases, roughly 1%, actually account for a fart\u2019s notorious smell and that these stinky gases are sulfur-based.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the guy whose shoulders we\u2019re standing on,\u201d Hall said of Levitt.<\/p>\n<p>Important as Levitt and others\u2019 research has been, it\u2019s largely based on people\u2019s self-reporting of their farting habits or the use of tubes directly inserted into people\u2019s rear ends to collect farts for analysis. People\u2019s memories can be foggy even under the best circumstances. And while rectal devices might be a lot more accurate, they\u2019re not people-friendly, to put it lightly. The Smart Underwear now provides a much easier way to keep an eye on our farts than Levitt\u2019s butt tubes.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote text-center\">\u201cLong term, there\u2019s the potential to recode our microbiome to produce less gas.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>Much like a wayward squeak on a first date, though, Hall\u2019s career in fartology wasn\u2019t intentional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t set out to be a fart scientist. I\u2019m actually a mechanistic microbiologist. But what we\u2019re measuring is the microbiology that\u2019s happening in your gut,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>While sulfur is the culprit behind a fart\u2019s stink, the team\u2019s device specifically senses the large amounts of hydrogen found in a fart. This hydrogen is exclusively created by certain bacteria that live in our gut as a product of fermentation. Some of it leaves the body via our breathing or burps, but the majority comes out in our farts. Thus, the detection of hydrogen is not only a strong signal for someone having just farted\u2014it\u2019s one that can tell us a lot about the gut bacteria that make it.<\/p>\n<p>Hall\u2019s team was originally trying to study microbial fermentation through sensors that could detect the hydrogen produced by bacteria in an oxygen-free, or anaerobic, chamber. The sensors didn\u2019t seem to work in these chambers, however. So, in a moment of equal parts inspiration and frustration, Hall literally put the device down his pants and farted on it\u2014which produced a huge, clear signal. As it turns out, the sensor needed oxygen to work, and from there, the researchers realized they had created an ideal fart detector.<\/p>\n<h2>The Human Flatus Atlas<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766572\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766572\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766572\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-01.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 01\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766572\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The team\u2019s work eventually led them to the Human Flatus Atlas, a project billed as the world\u2019s \u201cfirst scientific expedition\u201d into farting (flatus is technically the medical term for the gas that builds up in our intestines).<\/p>\n<p>The researchers initially produced a batch of 800 devices for the project, which started in February. The interest from potential volunteers was so high, however, that they soon had to temporarily pause enrollment. Despite that, Hall was kind enough to provide me with two spare copies of the wearable.<\/p>\n<p>The current device\u2014now in its 13th or so iteration\u2014is far less clunkier to wear than the original created more than five years ago. Over Zoom, Hall showed off the V1 Smart Underwear, a clunky-looking device with wires coming out of it, along with a clip that\u2019s supposed to be attached to your belt. Other versions used double-sided tape to do the trick, which volunteers still hated, Hall said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766575\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766575\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766575\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-14.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 14\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766575\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Smart Underwear sensor is attached to your underwear using these button clips. \u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Smart Underwear these days is a small light device that\u2019s attached to the center of your underwear with a simple button clip. The device goes on the bottom surface of the underwear and connects through the fabric to the clip on the other side (in case of thicker underwear, two sizes of clip are included). Though I did have a little trouble attaching the device on the first day, it quickly became a snap. And true to Hall\u2019s reassurance early on, actually wearing the device was completely free of any discomfort across all three days of use. Honestly, there were chunks of the day where I forgot I even had it on.<\/p>\n<p>I followed the same procedure as the study participants. In the morning, I charged the device with a provided charger and connected it to the team\u2019s accompanying app, where data from the previous day would be sent to; then I would start a new session of data collection. Though the device tracks farts all on its own, the study does ask people to record when and what they\u2019re eating via a photo. This allows the device to see how long after eating it takes for people\u2019s farts to bubble up. Based on the frequency and intensity of these farts, it can also quantify how metabolically active your microbiome was that day.<\/p>\n<h2>Lessons from farting<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766583\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766583\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766583\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-17.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 17\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766583\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Thankfully, I\u2019ve never considered myself an overly gassy person. That said, there certainly have been times when I\u2019ve regretted the ingestion of certain foods, particularly dairy, over the bloating and gas they can cause.<\/p>\n<p>So while I wasn\u2019t expecting to be a farting champ, I did think my diet would leave plenty to be counted. In fact, on Hall\u2019s suggestion, I planned to briefly try out a low FODMAP diet on the last day of the experiment. FODMAP is short for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. They\u2019re basically carbohydrates that can\u2019t be fully digested by the body, so they\u2019re instead broken down by our gut bacteria. High FODMAP foods like dairy, high fructose corn syrup, and highly processed meats are sometimes linked to <span class=\"svelte-1fz0gqk\">irritable bowel syndrome or other gut issues, and a low FODMAP diet can be used to temporarily reduce symptoms and identify specific triggers for chronic gut problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<aside class=\"pullquote text-center\">\u201cI get a lot of emails with very detailed stories about people\u2019s fart history. So it\u2019s been a lot of fun, too.\u201d<\/aside>\n<p>To my pleasant surprise, my first day was light on farts, even though I indulged in my favorite beverage as of late: a delicious large iced tea with milk. The device tracked nine farts that day. The second day, I ate even more foods I\u2019ve personally linked to gas, like buffalo wings, which did seem to boost my count (23 farts). By day three, I went back to my usual diet and only had three farts total.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it\u2019s possible that I somehow borked up the device\u2019s data collection. The results of all three days lined up with my subjective recollections, though, and I was definitely paying more attention to my farts than usual. Given that I\u2019m a 37-year-old man with no major health conditions, digestive or otherwise, it\u2019s also probably not too surprising that my fart activity is relatively low.<\/p>\n<p>Broadly speaking, the team\u2019s research has already started to question some common notions about farting.<\/p>\n<p>In a recently published pilot study, for instance, the researchers tracked the farts of 19 healthy adult volunteers. On average, they found, the volunteers farted 32 times a day\u2014roughly twice the amount reported by the studies back in Levitt\u2019s heyday. There was plenty of variation between the volunteers as well: the single lowest fart count in a day was four, while the highest was a whopping 59 \u201cflatus events.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In early May, the researchers also presented preliminary data from a subset of volunteers. Out of 37 people, they identified 24 who seemed to have lactose intolerance, based on increased microbiome activity after they consumed dairy. Yet only 12 of these people correctly reported they farted more post-lactose (22 did). And the team\u2019s research so far, according to Hall, suggests that some people are especially bad at gauging their fart levels, namely those who think they\u2019re excessively farting. That\u2019s important, since it might mean people who visit their doctor over excessive farting actually need different treatments that aren\u2019t simply focused on gassiness. All these findings will have to be vetted further with more data from the full project, of course.<\/p>\n<p>As silly as fart tracking might sound, Hall and his team are hopeful their work really can benefit people. \u201cBy adding this dimension of objectivity, we can help advance care,\u201d he said. Down the road, their research might even boost cancer prevention efforts.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2000766574\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2000766574\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2000766574\" src=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Human-Flatus-Atlas-07.jpg\" alt=\"Human Flatus Atlas 07\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2000766574\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Raymond Wong \/ Gizmodo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hall notes that colorectal cancer is negatively linked to fiber consumption, such that people who eat the most fiber are less likely to develop it. Right now, 95% of Americans probably aren\u2019t getting enough daily fiber intake. And one reason why, at least for some people, is that high fiber diets can cause the gut microbiome to churn out ample amounts of gas, bloating, and farting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLong term, there\u2019s the potential to recode our microbiome to produce less gas,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something we\u2019re going to do tomorrow. But by understanding how electron flow happens in the microbiome, we think we can measure then recode it so that people can eat healthy, high-fiber diets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hall and fellow UMN researcher Santiago Botasini have co-founded the company Ventoscity LLC to eventually commercialize their technology. For now, the team is still working on the small stuff. By this summer, they\u2019re hoping to release data from the first large batch of volunteers, roughly 500 people. They\u2019ve also upgraded the casing from the version I received (no more 3D printing), and they\u2019re looking to detect more gases through different sensors or techniques (carbon dioxide and methane are other byproducts of gut bacteria, while nitrogen and oxygen are found in farts, too). Eventually, the Human Flatus Atlas itself might enroll thousands of participants, and the team already has a hefty waiting list to pick from.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was about 8,000 right away in the first couple weeks. And it\u2019s been like 50 people per day ever since. So it\u2019s weirdly not slowed down,\u201d Hall said of the people signing up to be potential volunteers.<\/p>\n<p>My few days with the Smart Underwear have left me truly appreciative of my farts, along with the microbial alchemy that makes them possible. And the immediate buzz surrounding the project shows just how curious we are about the gas we pass. Based on the many responses that Hall has gotten from people around the world, the cultural prudishness surrounding farting really seems to be more of an American thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met someone from Vietnam and they were talking about how they just let them rip at the table. And it\u2019s not something that they even discuss. It\u2019s funny, and they just let it go. I think it\u2019s so humanizing and people want to talk about it,\u201d he said. \u201cI get a lot of emails with very detailed stories about people\u2019s fart history. So it\u2019s been a lot of fun, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><em>Gizmodo\u2019s <strong>The Next Interface<\/strong> is a weekly series that explores the exciting\u2014and perplexing\u2014world of wearables in all of its evolving form factors. From fitness bands and smartwatches that track your heart rate to wireless earbuds and headbands that read your brainwaves to smart glasses that shove the internet closer than ever to your eyeballs, we\u2019ll analyze them all with optimism and a healthy dose of skepticism.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/i-wore-a-smart-fart-wearable-for-three-days-heres-what-i-learned-2000760032&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Fart-Underwear-Image-1200&#215;675.jpg&#8221;] My mornings are fairly consistent, thanks largely to the furry alarm clock that demands breakfast at 7 a.m. sharp, my cat Cheddar. The last few days, though, I\u2019ve had to add a novel item to my morning ritual: carefully sticking a nickle-sized device onto my underwear so that it can track my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-1971111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1971111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1971111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1971111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1971111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1971111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1971111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}