5 ms·

Wait until we've got smart toilets analyzing our poop and pee everywhere we go. Then there will truly be nowhere to hide.

adolph 3y ago
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September 2020. CDC developed NWSS to coordinate and build the nation’s capacity to track the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in wastewater samples collected across the country. https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance.html https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance.html
- maxerickson 3y ago
  Which is not particularly personally invasive and is a great tool. The thing with the cryptic infection in Ohio was maybe personally invasive (but as far as I know, no PII has been revealed): https://www.darkdaily.com/?p=43174 https://www.darkdaily.com/?p=43174
  - ASalazarMX 3y ago
    "All waste samples were thoroughly anoymized".
  - adolph 3y ago
    I make no judgement about its invasiveness or usefulness. A possible future is for this monitoring to go further upstream to become more personalized and cross boundaries into other monitoring domains, as other comments noted many pharmaceutical products or metabolites can be detected in human waste. Possibly something holding practical implementations back is all the other waste put into sewage, which may stop things up in the manner of “fatbergs.” [0] A related idea I have percolating is to change municipal composting programs from bins and trucks to grind and pipe by deploying more sink fixtures that grind food materials into small pieces so they go thru the drain. Then focus extracting/separating biological materials from other effluvium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg
- switch007 3y ago
  Governments were doing that kind of sampling before Covid too, eg for drugs. https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/study-tracks-illicit-drug-use-through-europes-sewage-system/ https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/study-tracks-illicit-dr...
DoktorDelta 3y ago
Sooner than you think: https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-designed-a-smart-toilet-with-butt-recognition-technology-2020-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-designed-a-smart-... On a slightly less dystopian note, I can't wait for the DefCon talk on spoofing anus prints
- phs318u 3y ago
  Are we sure this wasn't posted 8 days late?
capableweb 3y ago
> Wait until we've got smart toilets analyzing our poop and pee everywhere we go. I'm hacking on a local-only, slurp-every-data-point-about-myself program, and I missed adding a analyzer for feces and urine! Thanks for sharing your sarcasm :)
- nehal3m 3y ago
  I work in microbiology lab automation. Setting up automated culturing shouldn't be out of reach with the tech available to ordinary people today, but it will smell pretty bad.
skripp 3y ago
In 2003 I installed a scale in our dorm toilet. When you sat down you push a button and when done you push it again. If you were in the top five you could enter your (three letter max) name using a two button system. Top five were displayed using a super low resolution screen similar to a pinball high score screen.
- qup 3y ago
  Don't be shy, give us the top score list
  - oh_sigh 3y ago
    POO, TRD, SHT, ASS, and TED
    - aaronbrethorst 3y ago
      Poor Ted needed more fiber.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  I am curious as to how the scale was installed.
  - great_psy 3y ago
    I think it was just a regular scale that you step on, not mounted into the toilet
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - lotsofpulp 3y ago
      Oh, duh, that would make more sense.
jvm___ 3y ago
Pooping in the woods will be made illegal as it avoids government tracking.
dvngnt_ 3y ago
Smart Pipe is a registered sex offender https://youtu.be/DJklHwoYgBQ https://youtu.be/DJklHwoYgBQ
- izzydata 3y ago
  Thank you for this. I figured someone had to.
lazycouchpotato 3y ago
Why stop at toilets? https://supercombodeluxe.com/gmen/ https://supercombodeluxe.com/gmen/
- cfn 3y ago
  That may already be a thing (garbage weighing) somewhere. There was a trial where residents were be billed by the weight of their garbage. The trial involved adding QR codes to the bins and an adapted garbage truck that weighed the bin and read the QR code upon disposal. I don't know what happened after the trial (or if they had an incognito mode).
  - vasco 3y ago
    There's places where your tax amount depends on how much trash by weight you produce. I know people in some of those cities that drive their trash to the next town over and avoid paying.
  - kolp 3y ago
    It's currently operated in Dublin. Barcode on back of each of 3 bins (recyclables, non-recyclables and organic). Recyclables and organic are free, and non-recyclables includes a quota of x kg per month included in your monthly fee. You pay extra per kg if you go over the quota for non-recyclables in any month. The system encourages recycling, but at the risk of people contaminating the (free) recyclables bin with non recyclable material.
pgeorgi 3y ago
I read that novel... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Method_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Method_(novel)
glandium 3y ago
I distinctly remember seeing a TV personality in France (Jérome Bonaldi, for fellow French people on HN) presenting, in the 90s, Japanese toilets that did that. 20+ years later, I live in Japan and they're nowhere to be found (thankfully)
- tomcam 3y ago
  Hey, some of us like French people

adolph 3y ago

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September 2020. CDC developed NWSS to coordinate and build the nation’s capacity to track the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in wastewater samples collected across the country. https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance.html https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance.html

maxerickson 3y ago
Which is not particularly personally invasive and is a great tool. The thing with the cryptic infection in Ohio was maybe personally invasive (but as far as I know, no PII has been revealed): https://www.darkdaily.com/?p=43174 https://www.darkdaily.com/?p=43174
- ASalazarMX 3y ago
  "All waste samples were thoroughly anoymized".
- adolph 3y ago
  I make no judgement about its invasiveness or usefulness. A possible future is for this monitoring to go further upstream to become more personalized and cross boundaries into other monitoring domains, as other comments noted many pharmaceutical products or metabolites can be detected in human waste. Possibly something holding practical implementations back is all the other waste put into sewage, which may stop things up in the manner of “fatbergs.” [0] A related idea I have percolating is to change municipal composting programs from bins and trucks to grind and pipe by deploying more sink fixtures that grind food materials into small pieces so they go thru the drain. Then focus extracting/separating biological materials from other effluvium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg
switch007 3y ago
Governments were doing that kind of sampling before Covid too, eg for drugs. https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/study-tracks-illicit-drug-use-through-europes-sewage-system/ https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/study-tracks-illicit-dr...

DoktorDelta 3y ago

Sooner than you think: https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-designed-a-smart-toilet-with-butt-recognition-technology-2020-4 https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-designed-a-smart-... On a slightly less dystopian note, I can't wait for the DefCon talk on spoofing anus prints

phs318u 3y ago
Are we sure this wasn't posted 8 days late?

capableweb 3y ago

> Wait until we've got smart toilets analyzing our poop and pee everywhere we go. I'm hacking on a local-only, slurp-every-data-point-about-myself program, and I missed adding a analyzer for feces and urine! Thanks for sharing your sarcasm :)

nehal3m 3y ago
I work in microbiology lab automation. Setting up automated culturing shouldn't be out of reach with the tech available to ordinary people today, but it will smell pretty bad.

skripp 3y ago

In 2003 I installed a scale in our dorm toilet. When you sat down you push a button and when done you push it again. If you were in the top five you could enter your (three letter max) name using a two button system. Top five were displayed using a super low resolution screen similar to a pinball high score screen.

qup 3y ago
Don't be shy, give us the top score list
- oh_sigh 3y ago
  POO, TRD, SHT, ASS, and TED
  - aaronbrethorst 3y ago
    Poor Ted needed more fiber.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
lotsofpulp 3y ago
I am curious as to how the scale was installed.
- great_psy 3y ago
  I think it was just a regular scale that you step on, not mounted into the toilet
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Oh, duh, that would make more sense.

jvm___ 3y ago

Pooping in the woods will be made illegal as it avoids government tracking.

dvngnt_ 3y ago

Smart Pipe is a registered sex offender https://youtu.be/DJklHwoYgBQ https://youtu.be/DJklHwoYgBQ

izzydata 3y ago
Thank you for this. I figured someone had to.

lazycouchpotato 3y ago

Why stop at toilets? https://supercombodeluxe.com/gmen/ https://supercombodeluxe.com/gmen/

cfn 3y ago
That may already be a thing (garbage weighing) somewhere. There was a trial where residents were be billed by the weight of their garbage. The trial involved adding QR codes to the bins and an adapted garbage truck that weighed the bin and read the QR code upon disposal. I don't know what happened after the trial (or if they had an incognito mode).
- vasco 3y ago
  There's places where your tax amount depends on how much trash by weight you produce. I know people in some of those cities that drive their trash to the next town over and avoid paying.
- kolp 3y ago
  It's currently operated in Dublin. Barcode on back of each of 3 bins (recyclables, non-recyclables and organic). Recyclables and organic are free, and non-recyclables includes a quota of x kg per month included in your monthly fee. You pay extra per kg if you go over the quota for non-recyclables in any month. The system encourages recycling, but at the risk of people contaminating the (free) recyclables bin with non recyclable material.

pgeorgi 3y ago

I read that novel... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Method_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Method_(novel)

glandium 3y ago

I distinctly remember seeing a TV personality in France (Jérome Bonaldi, for fellow French people on HN) presenting, in the 90s, Japanese toilets that did that. 20+ years later, I live in Japan and they're nowhere to be found (thankfully)

tomcam 3y ago
Hey, some of us like French people