I thought the PF crew would enjoy this science project made by some kids with way too much time on their hands.  I guess I shouldn't criticize them too much, since I also must have too much time on my hands in order to find stuff like this on the internet and then make a post here about it.

According to the description you can build your very own device for about $60US, a cost which I think could be easily recouped (if there are any aspiring businesspeople among us) by organizing a contest in your local area and charging a small entry fee to each contestant.  You probably wouldn't even need to award any actual prizes, since bragging rights for the winner would likely satisfy most who would enter such a contest.

Another related device in which some of you may also be interested and can also be built at home is described here.  I shudder to think about the devious uses some of you might find for this device.

Have fun.

I'm definitely getting old...

Why, even a decade ago, I might have considered re-purposing a methane gas-leak detector...

 

Oohhh, goody - just what we need.  This technology will eventually end up in the hands of law-enforcement zealots at some stage.  Customs, anyone...?

"Ahh... I see you've just come back from Mexico." *FART*  "Over-did the Cinquo de Mayo celebrations, didn't we sir?"

...or even worse, imagine being pulled over by the cops.  The phrase "would you mind blowing into this, sir?" will never be the same...

MARK MY WORDS!

Already, half the wild creatures in the World—
they shrug against 'these stupid  -radio collars
and Washington knows -when they eat, sleep,
and poop.. Most of the COWz—  
in the USA,  live with the  annoyance -of this
DEVISE -poked up their rectum... measuring
the volume of their farts...

WITH THIS— Now the Whack-O  'donkeys...
will miniturise this— and combined with the
Volume measurements—

They already  use  "Cap-'N'Trade"—
and "Carbon-Footprint" to TAX  people
and companies   -into extinshion....

With THIS— they have the perfect excuse—
to Tax   'Your Carbon, and put their footprint
right up -where they want to be a pain !

 
In a short tme—

(KNOCK - KNOCK )
"Excuse me Sir... WE are from the Government...  
-and WE are HERE... To Help...."
 
"Would you— Sir please—  to bend -over—
and pull down  'your pants...
   —Eh.. No.... My Mother  warned me—
about  'people -like you....
 
"But Sir— We need your cooperation.."
   "-That Not What Mamma Say—
you need... ! "
 

—I knew, this was going to happen !  

    

A FART detector is funny to thing of   ( a lot of *BEEPS* in my house ) nice link Groucho  

being an expert       , farts (click the autolink   ) has not a great percentage of methane, while cows produce a lot of methane burping

So I don't know how this detector can work, it is not a replica of a methane detector, for example with me a methane detector that should beep at my farts it wouldn't work: I know for sure that my farts have a minimum percentage of methane, because methane is odorless (the smell is added artificially to warn for a leak) , while my farts...  

About global warming and how it works, there is this simple video that is very interesting to watch:


Link



P.S. Please don't derail the topic in a political flame, you know our rules.

Luckily (for reasons alluded by Tormie) it doesn't seem this detector would be very useful in assessing "carbon taxes," although some ambitious bureaucrats could certainly use it to hand out fines for other kinds of pollution or violating workplace "safety rules," etc.

According to the description, the detector works by measuring changes in air temperature and hydrogen sulfide concentrations, plus peak sound volume.  It comes up with a weighted average of these three factors and assigns a score to the event, then compares it against previously rated samples.  I thought it was especially funny that if (but only if) you get a high-ranking score, a little fan automatically turns on to disperse the offending/prize-winning emissions.

An article linked off the Wikipedia article you guys mentioned was pretty funny too.  I used to think of mountain climbers as heroic brave explorers, but after the visual image I had in my mind while reading about "high altitude flatus expulsion" I'll never again think about Sir Edmund Hillary without laughing.