Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/11/27/scientists-got-6-people-to-eat.html
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Certainly in the running for IgNobel.
In the interests of a control group, maybe they could do the same test with folks using a colostomy bag?
//so sorry
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They only used the heads? I’d be interested in learning how different shape blocks might take varying amounts of time to pass through one’s system. Say, a minifig vs. a 2x4 block.
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We’ve finally answered the burning question - how long does it take for an ingested lego head to pass?
Umm - I’m pretty sure this ‘burning question’ had a well-known answer, familiar to most medics long ago.
But a great IgNobel entry, nonetheless.
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The important question remains: what did they do with the post-experiment heads? Did some avant garde artiste use them to build a civet cat inspired statue of Chester Cheeto in Chief?
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I think I must have a very slow transit time. I was suppose to have a colonoscopy about a month ago, but I called them a few hours before the procedure to report that I had not progressed far enough with the pre-clean procedure. Even with no foods two days before this, I was still going. So now I’m going to try again this week with a larger volume of the standard formula. I stopped by Costco and picked up the warehouse sized Mirlax just in case.
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I’m sending this guy down:
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Definitely a burning question.
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Yeah, I’m a little surprised this passed ethics review. Surely a better way would’ve been to just ask parents of children who’ve swallowed Lego “when did your child swallow the Lego?”
Through their own poo? Or through each other’s?
Good point. Though parents may not really know. Then again, if they don’t know when it was swallowed how do they know anything WAS swallowed. So presumably if they DO know it was swallowed it follows they know when. (Am I confusing myself yet?) 
My point was more that the result (1 to 3 days) has been pretty well-known as the typical range of average transit times, for a long while.
That wouldn’t be a prospective trial, and thus any results would be questionable. At least they picked Lego heads, vs gears…
Good luck. We’ll see you on the other side.
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I have found that where the original Lego bricks really beat knockoffs like Mega Bloks are in the areas of allowable tolerances in the injection-molding process and intestinal transit time.
Or maybe that’s just propaganda from their '80s commercials.
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An ER doc told me that if it can fit in a film canister, kids can pretty much pass it.
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This sounds like it could spawn a new indoor team sport.
Opposing teams could each devour 5 or 6 pieces of a Lego monument, say, Winchester Cathedral or even better, the White House. Then, in a race against time, they would compete to recover and reassemble the monument.
Of course, each piece would have to bear a unique identifying number - to prevent any substitution shenanigans - 'cause we don’t want any of that kinda shit going on.
I might swallow a piece, and I might let them have the poop, but they can do the searching.
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