Les Superpouvoirs de l'Urine

During our lifetime we excrete about thirty-eight thousand litres of urine. Our life begins in the yellowish liquid, since it makes up 80% of the foetal environment. Yet, according to the film-makers, urine is unfairly made a taboo for the rest of our lives. The bizarre hero and even less likely superhero – urine – is a natural part of our lives. So it is rather startling to realize just how much there is still to be discovered about it. The latest analyses prove that urine contains about three thousand substances, and it is often argued that it also has beneficial effects. It seems fairly logical to use urine as a fertilizer, but as spacecraft fuel? The film-makers travelled all over the world. They used thermographic cameras, highspeed recording and microscopic shots in order to reveal anything about urine that could be of use to us. Urine has served as a diagnostic tool in the treatment of patients since medicine was in its infancy. Nowadays, it is not only used in the production of drugs, but various laboratories are investigating its potential use in the creation of stem cells. The scientific research is ongoing and perhaps the period when this “gilded” liquid is worth gold might be just around the corner. (Academia Film Olomouc)