astronauts

If you are at all invested in meme culture, you've probably see this meme: 

The absurd idea that all of planet Earth is Ohio has been an overwhelmingly successful image macro, and, as we've learned in the last few weeks, has inspired many equally absurd variations. Some are more inventive than others, replacing "Ohio Earth" with references to games or anime instead of just another place. Our favorite? Easily the meme that suggests the world is just chicken tenders. We could go for some right now.

When  Hugo-Award winning writer Mary Kowal penned a New York Times essay about gender bias in space, she did not expect a wealth of responses claiming that women we kept from space travel due to a lack of adequate bathroom technology. The concept that only women would face issues relieving themselves was so preposterous that Kowal took to Twitter in hopes of enlightening the masses with some serious space potty history. 

In the thread, Kowal manages to destroy some seriously absurd bathroom-related gender bias and teach us a whole lot about the process of pooping and peeing in zero gravity. It's an informative yet wild and wildly funny ride, and really leaves us with the desire to observe a glove of purple piss floating out of a space toilet. If Kowal schooled you as hard as she did us, give her a follow on Twitter. She's got loads more wisdom to share.