The Science of Farting

The annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting was recently held in downtown Washington, DC. The meeting is a great opportunity to connect with colleagues and attend fascinating scientific lectures on a variety of topics from brain-machine interface to the science of farting.

Yes, today’s video post answers an age-old question: how much farting force would be required to achieve liftoff? The speaker is Chris Smith from the University of Cambridge and creator of the podcast The Naked Scientists.




Although the subject of his talk may seem ridiculous, it was certainly memorable. And herein lies an invaluable insight into effective communication – if you want your message to stick, make it stand out. At this very same meeting were dozens of other presentations on scientific topics, but I would bet that none used humor and sheer weirdness as tools for connecting with the audience and ultimately ensuring a lasting impression.

How could you use humor and weirdness to make your next presentation more memorable?