Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday's Fact.....




NAVAL LINT


Navel lint, or more commonly belly button lint or navel fluff, is an accumulation of fluffy fibres in one's navel. Many people find that, at the beginning and end of the day, a small lump of fluff has appeared in the navelcavity. The reasons for this have been the subject of idle speculation for many years but in 2001, Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki of the University of Sydney, Australia, undertook a systematic survey to determine the ins and outs of navel lint. His primary findings were as follows: Navel lint consists primarily of stray fibers from one's clothing, mixed with some dead skin cells and strands of body hair. Contrary to expectations, navel lint appears to migrate upwards from underwear rather than downwards from shirts or tops. The migration process is the result of the frictional drag of body hair on underwear, which drags stray fibers up into the navel.Women experience less navel lint because of their finer and shorter body hairs. Conversely, older men experience it more because of their coarser and more numerous hairs. Navel lint's characteristic blue-gray tint is likely the averaging of the colors of fibers present in clothing; the same color as clothes dryer lint. The existence of navel lint is entirely harmless, and requires no corrective action. Dr. Kruszelnicki was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in 2002.

Hey Toast, something else to be proud about!




cited from: http://users.marshall.edu/~jacobs11/

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

i was going to make some comment about being repulsed, but the information was too interesting. dang. foiled.

Unknown said...

When I saw the pic, I will be honest, I almost didn't read. Gross. BUT as usual, curiosity got me.

Life With Dogs said...

Perfect color for the holiday, only a few days early.

Addie said...

You said that it requires no corrective action...I beg to differ!

Anonymous said...

OMG! There is another belly button with naval lint in it. I'm amazed that it find its way to my husband's belly button every single day. It's as reliable as the sunrise. Hilarious!!!