What If Obesity Is Nobody’s Fault?
Last year, Harvard University sent Peter Ferket mouse poo to light on fire. A professor of poultry science at North Carolina State University, Ferket began by adding flammable flour dust to his samples. He then put the mixture into a sealed, stainless steel cylinder filled with pure oxygen, surrounded the cylinder with a couple liters of water, and lit its contents on fire with an electrical filament. The high temperature and pressure of the combustion left only a little mineral-laden ash, and slightly warmed the surrounding water bath. Although the samples were minute, their scientific output was substantial: The study suggested that two mice can eat and excrete the same amounts, but one can end up obese.
