What is fart and what's the use?

In one of my children's books on defecation there is a section about flatulence. It says that the gas, or flatus, we pass is composed of air that we swallow when we eat and drink, and to this I was at first extremely skeptical. Dismissive, rather. I had the idea that fart consisted of methane and other gases produced by the bacteria and archaea that digests our food for us, and that we burp all the air we swallow. Wikipedia to the rescue. This article on flatulence explains that most flatus are odorless gases:

The major components of the flatus, which are odorless, by percentage are:[2]

* Nitrogen - 20% - 90%
* Hydrogen - 0% - 50%
* Carbon Dioxide - 10% - 30%
* Oxygen - 0% - 10%
* Methane - 0% - 10%

I stand blissfully corrected.

Mr. Methane is a professional flatulist. There used to be others, but now he's the only one.



In this interview he explains and demonstrates how he does it. He expands his abdominal muscles to fill her bowels with air, which he then lets out in a controlled manner. I highly recommend Mr. Methane performing Stevie Wonder's I just called to say I love you.