Constipation affects around 15% of the US population. It's an uncomfortable condition both physically, and psychologically. Not only do current treatments like laxatives provoke gas, cramping and diarrhea, but it's not exactly socially cool to be constipated. Until now.

Dr. Yishai Ron MD has created a Vibrating Capsule, that's right, a pill with an engine inside, that's programmed to vibrate 6-8 hours after it's ingested. I had visions of a worm-like-pill burrowing crazy tunnels in your pre-poo as it travels through your intestine, but in fact the vibrating pill just acts to stimulate peristaltic waves (muscle contractions to move food through the digestive tract), thus increasing the mobility of, well, everything.

It sounds far fetched, but some people with chronic constipation were willing to put this to the test in a pilot trial, and the frequency of their bowel movements nearly doubled. Not bad for a pill that has no side effects.

What happens to the teeny tiny engine you ask? No, it doesn't vibrate all the way to the toilety grave, but burns out it's energy before it has a chance to hit the water. And no, when it's pooped out with everything else, it doesn't have to be retrieved for re-use. Thankfully.

When can you get yours? Well first more testing needs to be done. They are going to perform a controlled, double-blind study to further explore the potential of this innovative capsule, and it's possible side effects on other aspects of your physiology. Who knows what side effects the vibration could have on surrounding blood vessels and tissues.

The study was paid for by Vibrant Inc, an Israeli company who filed a patent for this "Gastrointestinal Capsule" two years ago - which shows how long these things take to reach the market.

So if you suffer from constipation, it will be a few more years before you have tiny engines propelling forward the contents of your intestines, but it's still cause for celebration. The future looks bright and laxative free.