Nerd Pride Radio

"Three percent of the ice in Antarctica is made of penguin pee."

I read this. I couldn't believe it. I googled it. It is oft-repeated as a Stone Cold Fact®, but I can't find a reliable source that says it.

There's no way this is true.

The ice in antarctica is "up to 3 miles deep and covers about 5.3 million square miles." (source- not Santasm)

It is roughly "7.2 million cubic miles" of ice. (source- also not Santasm)

According to a wikipedia article the Antarctic "ice sheet weighs 26,500,000 gigatons." (for source, click preceding highlight this is Santasm)

This can't be true. There can't be 795,000 GIGATONS of penguin pee in Antarctica.

Well, over half the salt in the ocean is from whale semen.

Stan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:08 pm Well, over half the salt in the ocean is from whale semen.

I'm being serious, sir. I tried googling that fact and it only gave me results for Santasm. How dare you.

Look- here's what I'm saying, almost 800,000 gigatons of frozen penguin pee. That just can't be true. What other things weigh that much? I'm going to goole it.

THAT'S THE EQUIVALENT OF 8,818,400 STATUES OF LIBERTY! IN PENGUIN PEE!

8,479,230,769 DUANE "THE ROCK" JOHNSONS!

IN PENGUIN PEE!

THAT'S 2,382,578 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATIONS (if it were on earth, of course, because in space it weighs nothing)

IN PENGUIN PEE!

THAT'S 4,409,200,000,000 BIG MACS! IN PENGUIN PEE!

There's no way that's true.

Penguins don't pee. They're birds. They drop guano.

I'm saying I'm with Kyle. There's no way this is true.

Could be true, in an "every breath you breathe contains at least one since particle breathed by Sir Isaac Newton," kinda way.

# Number of penguins ever
# of Gallons of pee each pee in their lifetime
% of that pee is water
% of pee that was peed on Antarctica

Still seems like a lot. And probably ignores pee that was then turned back into water, ingested by future penguins, and re-peed.

But I think this should turn into a big consPiracy trend. P instead of Q.

So maybe 120 trillion penguins ever
As for guano "made almost entirely of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium"...

....

OK, I've joined P.

Mike wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 1:37 pm Penguins don't pee. They're birds. They drop guano.

Actually, due to their body's super conservation of water, they do have a function to excrete uric acid. So that's really pee.

But that many Big Macs? No way that's true.

Ok, there's no way it's true. If so, ice would be thicker near the shore as penguins don't usually go far inland, certainly no all the way to the pole.

This as an incredibly frustrating FAQ
https://askinglot.com/can-penguins-pee

Do penguins pee? No
What color is there pee? Yellow
How much do they pee? 3% of Antartica.

I bet bet bet this started as a theoretical problem solver in a math or physics class. "Imagine if every penguin pees 4 oz of water a day" kinda thing. Then a student took it as true.

Quora users are as mad as Kyle
https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-o ... guin-urine

Most agree, they don't urinate, and if you count all waste, it's still be minuscule.

Except one answerer, who says "3% of the ice in Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine."

We're not the cult, they're the cult!

Here's the thing too- this assumes that all pee (even if it's really pee) turns to ice. Which is horseshit. Just like with ice, there's sublimation and wash off into the unfrozen ocean.

I agree. This was a theoretical thing that was invented to piss me off.

Kyle wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:19 pm Here's the thing too- this assumes that all pee (even if it's really pee) turns to ice. Which is horseshit. Just like with ice, there's sublimation and wash off into the unfrozen ocean.

Good point. One site delved into it from the angle of how important seabird waste is for returning nutrients to the ecosystem.

I'm still not going to believe you that yellow snow tastes like lemonade. Even in Antarctica.

Kyle wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:19 pm Which is horseshit.

Please let's just stick to one problem at a time. This one's going to be a lot harder because of all the cows and all this other stuff.

THAT’S 6 LOUIE ANDERSONS! IN PENGUIN PEE!

My dog just peed on 22 different bushes or mailboxes during our walk. Assuming he pees like a tablespoon per endeavor, how the heck does he have that much in his bladder during a walk?