Farts are James Caldwellfunny and sometimes smelly. But are they a legitimate topic of research?

More than 40% of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from some kind of functional gut disorder, such as acid reflux, heartburn, indigestion, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.

So, yes, freelance science writer Claire Ainsworth thinks so. Ainsworth recently sat down with Short Waveco-host Emily Kwong to talk about two teams of scientists studying intestinal gases, who she profiled in an article in New Scientist.

"Gases are so cool because they kind of let us eavesdrop on the conversations that are going on within this ecosystem and how that relates to our health," Ainsworth says.