Apparently, Drugloos are already in use at prisons, secure hospitals, police stations and airports around the world. There are several different variations on the Drugloo theme, but get a load of the classic version pictured here. I don't know about you, but I would have trouble "performing" on this cold steel beast—but at least you are in control. Sooner or later, they are going to develop a toilet that sucks the evidence right out of you. Then you'll be sorry. [Drugloo via ChronicleHerald via Fark]

The Wheelie Bin Urinal concept, which I shouldn't have to tell you came from England, came from England, the only country where public micturation is subject to stylistic regulation. It looks like a normal trash can you'd see on any street in the UK, except for a curious, and curiously labeled, little portal. This is for your junk.

As you can see in the video below, given that they were probably planning on peeing in public anyway, people don't seem to reluctant to mount the Wheelie Bin Urinal. But it isn't magic: at da end of da day, you're still stuck with a trash can full of piss. Or, if this is any better, piss and straw. [DesignBoom]

The Axixa concept involves installing urinals outside of buildings—urinals with a classy pee-stain aesthetic. I'm not sure how these would work exactly, but even if the urinals weren't inappropriately shaped I don't see local businesses going for it. So, I recommend sticking with Ray Tempus' 15-Point Guide to Peeing In the City. It's an urban survival guide that will teach you everything you need to know. [The Design Blog]

Worse still, it may be clogged, although not with the kind of stuff you'd think. Nay, no plunger will help in this case, as the clog is chemical in nature, and may have seeped into the figurative space station woodwork.

Unfortunately, mission control and the astronauts have few leads into why the multi-million dollar Russian-built space john crapped the bed for a second time in the past two years. Previously, the toilet was so crippled by whatever it was the astronauts were eating up there that the fix required an emergency replacement pump delivery from space shuttle Discovery.

For now, the 13 crew members on board have to split their number one's and two's between the remaining ISS toilet and one aboard the shuttle. If another toilet fails, the crew can fall back on Apollo-era waste collection bag, which is nice because we're currently celebrating that mission's 40th anniversary. [BBC]

Instead, we should be thinking about our poop. Like how much water we waste when we poop or how many people in this world don't have a pot to poop in. The Loowatt solves this problem with a structure that is composed of 90% horse poop. The biodegradable lining stores your poop which will be inserted later into an outdoor biodigestor—a device that turns said poop into biofuel for cooking. It's like the poop circle of life. The project has been well received in exhibits around the world, but funding is still needed to get the Loowatt off the ground. And don't worry—your contribution will not go unrewarded. For only £17 ($28) you will receive your very own "poo gem" to cherish forever. Awesome?

*number of times poop was referenced in this article: 12 (poopity poop poop) 15 [Loowatt via Dwell via Inhabitat]

On one side you have a toilet and on the other, a urinal. The toilet rotates between the two at the press of a button and self-cleans with steam and a UV light bath. So you are getting both a urinal and a toilet in a single, compact unit that not only cleans itself, but most likely would result in cost savings with regard to water usage. Again, this is only a concept, but it is one that has limitless potential. [Yanko via DVICE]

The pillows come in two options, a split-mode one and a larger, single unit variety. It's pretty gross when you think about getting your junk THAT close to the toilet, but even grosser if you're so short that your goods actually touch the rim of the bowl. An easier solution would be just to pee sitting down. [House Doctor via Inventor Spot via Crunch Gear]

The Flo toilet is an ergonomic, sustainable design concept for baby boomers that functions like a squat toilet. Designers maintain that using the Flo toilet is akin to yoga - by building and strengthening abdominal and back muscles. Only one-half to one gallon of water is used for flushing and The Flo reuses water from hand washing. To flush water from the tanks to the toilet, the Flo employs an electromagnetic ball valve. Go With the Flo also is free of mechanical parts. The toilet is fully self-sustaining and independent of electric power.

I think I'll stick to a normal toilet, thanks. [ASU via Core77]

The way I see it you have four options: sit directly on the unsanitary toilet, wallpaper the seat with TP squares, use one of those flimsy paper covers, or squat and hover. If you prefer the latter option, but you lack the thigh strength to maintain elevated above the bowl for the duration, this toilet can help.

You see, the user takes a motorcycle-esque stance over the bowl, with their knees inserted into padded grooves to support weight comfortably. Of course, I'm not sure that this concept completely addresses the other major problem with the squat and hover method—(ahem) "discharge containment." The bowl would probably have to be really wide. Yeah, public restrooms are nasty enough already. [The Design Blog]

It will probably not end well for the social media savvy Stephen Colbert, whose dedicated fan base was able to trounce the four "official" names that NASA provided. NASA has all but confirmed that the node will be named Serenity, which was the top vote getter amongst the NASA-sanction entries.

However, rumor is Colbert might still get his wish, sort of, as Comedy Central is pimping the Colbert Report NASA appearance as evidence of the fact that the stuffy government space agency is going to bestow a named toilet on cable's most outspoken fake news commentator. [io9]

Did you just participate in a chili dog eating contest? Worry not, because the Neorest now whips up a tornado flush that can tackle anything that might stick to the inside of the bowl. It also has a special CeFiONtect glazing to prevent stains in the first place. I, for one, can't wait until Toto-esque toilet tech is more widely used in the US. [Neorest LE and Neorest SE via Trendir via DVICE]

Just align your feet on the painted skis on the floor and imagine you are barreling down the mountain bare-assed on a rocket full of feces. Yeah, Metamucil can't compete with that. The only problem is that you will have to book a flight to Japan to enjoy the benefits. These stalls have been built in various ski resort bathrooms there a part of a promotion for Coca-Cola's Georgia Max Coffee. [Coloribus via Pink Tentacle via DVICE]

From the looks of it, this toilet-seat mod is meant to potty-train and encourage kids by promising them a reward after they've done their business. The prize? The happy song, a high five, and some toilet paper! Frankly, this toilet would terrify me even at this age. I also have to wonder, won't this potty produce some sort of Pavlov's Dogs-esque side-effect? Hopefully when he's older, the kid won't poop his pants whenever he hears, "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!" [Engadget]

The idea behind having flushing options is that the two major bodily ejections differ in quantity, so they should be flushed down the toilet using different amounts of water: Half flush for liquids, full flush for #2. At $149 a piece, the Brondell Perfect Flush kit can be installed onto more than 90% of existing toilets, and can also cut down up to 50% on your toilet water usage. Or you can just do what I do: Don't flush the loo unless it's poo! [Brondell via Luxury Housing via Oh Gizmo]

It's the sequel to the original Intelligence Toilet, which has been tracking and graphing the health of the 10,000 or so lucky souls who have purchased one since 2005, according to Toto. Like the original, the Intelligence Toilet II takes all kinds of readings from your urine, which are then organized into Wii Fit style charts and graphs on your PC via Wi-Fi. It's unclear what all is new aside from the aforementioned temperature monitoring, which can help women keep track of their menstruation cycles, but if you're going to import a crazy Japanese toilet, this is clearly the one. [Trends in Japan]

Consisting of little more than a toilet paper dispenser attached to a shovel, this all but destined for a Hammacher Schlemmer catalog design allows you to:

1. 1. Go outside
2. 2. Dig a hole
3. 3. Poop
4. 4. Wipe
5. 5. Bury
6. 6. Win

And no longer will dogs have all the fun when it comes to defecating on someone's lawn. However, the portable toilet paper caddy seen in the pic is, well, pretty worthless. Unless you're in the habit of wandering campsites distributing TP to those in need like some kind of potty medic. Then it works. [FDeco via Crib Candy]

An early fix was attempted today by shuttle captain Michael Fincke and fellow astronaut Don Pettit (*no $100,000 tool bags were harmed in the making of this repair). The two astronauts reported hearing a "new sound" from the machine after the repair, and three hours later it shut down again. It was able to process "about a gallon of urine" in that time period. Under optimal conditions, the recycler is supposed to run four hours a pop.

Now, we joke about drinking urine, but this is actually a pretty serious issue—especially if the ISS crew is going to double from three to six in 2009 as planned. Theoretical missions to Mars will also rely on the prototype, because water is heavy, and lugging it between planets is prohibitively expensive.

And, making matters worse is the fact that this urine-cleansing uber-gadget is one-of-a-kind. There is no cosmic Home Depot that NASA can go to for a replacement.

"We haven't started talking about when we'd stop troubleshooting on orbit and decide to bring the unit home," Courtenay McMillan said. "That's a pretty big decision to make." Indeed. And so is taking that first sip of urine water. Cheers! [MSNBC]