Toilet

There are nearly 60 million active hikers in the US. It's estimated over a hundred thousand hikers are issued overnight permits from various state and national parks each year. Where exactly are you supposed to doo-doo when exploring nature?

When it comes to toilet etiquette, do you put the lid down before you flush, or leave it up? A new study has shown just what happens when you leave it up – and the results might have you questioning just what you do behind closed doors.

It was just this August that we heard about a super-slippery 3D-printed toilet bowl, which bacteria slide right off of. Well, if you want that same sort of functionality in your existing toilet, a special coating may do the trick.

Chinese researchers claim they've come up with a novel 3D-printed toilet bowl, impregnated with lubricant, that'll make toilet brushes redundant. Unlike non-stick coatings, this one stays slippery even if you sandpaper it until it's wafer-thin.

It can really get us down watching as AIs learn to write music, poetry and technology news, but watching this clever autonomous toilet-bot mop up the bogs somehow makes it all worthwhile. It's good to know robots are coming for the crappy jobs too.

Some people like to install a wooden seat on their toilet for its warmth, but the Block goes further. Described by Woodio as the world's first bio-material toilet, it ditches porcelain in favor of a modern toilet that's made from composite wood.

You've probably heard it before – if you don't put the lid down on the toilet, droplets of filth will fly out when you flush it. Scientists have now visualized that process for the first time, in hopes of reducing it with better toilet designs.

When it comes to communicable diseases, it's important to identify the source of an outbreak ASAP. In the case of cholera, a new toilet sensor could help, by detecting how many people in one area are experiencing one of the main symptoms – diarrhea.

If there were ever a product begging for improvement, the porta-potty would be it. Jupe looks to free the world of the old porta-potty with the Portal, a self-contained wilderness bathroom that aims for a glamping-grade experience when nature calls.

A new technology developed at Duke University could automate the process of analyzing stools for signs of disease, by working in existing toilet systems and using artificial intelligence to scan and classify feces as they are flushed through.

An experimental study has quantified the volume of aerosol particles generated by flushing toilets in a public restroom. The real-world research suggests even with lids closed flushing toilets can increase levels of ambient aerosol particles.

The Japanese have unusual bathrooms, but we'd guess most prefer to use them without an audience. So what's the deal with these see-through public toilets by Shigeru Ban? Though they're transparent when not in use, they turn opaque when occupied.