1-Coffee instead of the death penalty
The first creepiest experiment is a coffee instead of the death penalty.
At the end of the 18th century, King Gustav III of Sweden wanted to know
the side effects of coffee.
To do so, he proposed to twins condemned to death to transform their
death sentence into a life imprisonment.
With the only condition that one drink three pots of coffee per day and
the other three pots of tea.
The only problem is that the scientists who were following the
experiment died before the condemned...
For your information: the tea drinker died first.
2- Food through a hole in the stomach
This creepiest science experiment was established by the American
military Doctor William Beaumont.
He tried the experiment with patient who, following a hunting accident
had a hole in his stomach that allowed direct access to the stomach.
With the help of a rope, the doctor introduced all kinds of food into
the stomach such as oysters and roast beef.
This study led to the discovery of the importance of gastric juices in
digestion and marked the beginning of glory for Beaumont.
3. The creepiest experiment: Watching tar drops
In 1927, Professor Thomas Parnell of the University of Queensland in
Brisbane began an experiment.
It is still in progress and has become the longest experiment in the
world.
The tar drop experiment seeks to demonstrate that certain solid
materials, such as tar for example, were liquid materials.
Since 1927, tar placed under a glass ball has produced exactly 8 drops.
Exciting, the experiment can be followed live here.
For this revolutionary experiment, the scientist received posthumously
the LG Nobel, a parody of the Nobel Prize in 1995.
4. Experiment of the survival of decapitated dog
This is undoubtedly one of the creepiest experiments ever performed.
In the 1920s, a Russian doctor Sergei Brukhonenko wondered how a head
separated from its body could survive.
Since using human heads was not an option even then, Brukhonenko opted
for dog heads.
He managed to keep them alive with machines that simulated the action of
the lungs and heart.
It is from this experiment that the first heart-lung machines were
developed, which saved many lives later on.
Brukhonenko will be remembered as the Russian Frankenstein.
5. First experiment on head transplantation
To remain in the field of head experiments, Robert White succeeded
thanks to subsidies from the American state.
That was in performing the first head transplantation on a monkey on
March 14, 1970.
When the monkey wakes up from the anesthesia with a new body, it tries
to attack the doctor.
The poor monkey survived the operation for half a day before dying of
complications.
White thought he would be hailed as a hero, but instead he was heavily
criticized by the public.
Nevertheless, he continued to seek other supporters to continue his research.
6. Experiment on bringing dead man back to life
Keeping a dog's head alive is one thing, but bringing dead people back
to life is another.
However, this is what Giovanni Aldini tried to do on January 17, 1803 on
the murderer George Forster.
Forster had just been executed for his crimes when Aldini placed
electrodes on several parts of his body to circulate electricity.
Aldini then discovered that certain muscles moved and that the dead man
even opened an eye.
This experiment served as an inspiration to two famous authors, Mary
Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe.
7. Weird experiment about excited turkeys
In the 1960s, Martin Schein and Edgar Hale were interested in sexually
excited turkeys.
Not exactly a subject that keeps the scientific world awake. Their study
was based on turkeys mating with fake female turkeys.
At the beginning of the experiment, the simulated females still look
like the real thing.
But little by little they are stripped of their wings, tails, etc. In
the end, only the head and a stick remained.
However, the males were still interested.
What did we learn from such an experiment? That turkeys have a lot of
love to give and that they are not picky eaters.
Or in other words, they take what is offered.
8. The face made when you decapitate a rat
A laugh expresses joy, a frown expresses annoyance.
But is there a universal expression for disgust? That's what psychologist
Carney Landis asked himself in 1924.
Landis smeared the faces of his subjects to better perceive their
expressions.
He subjected them to various tests such as watching porn, putting their
hands in a bucket full of frogs or decapitating a live rat.
Despite his many attempts, Landis was never able to link facial
expressions with feelings.
9. More weird experiment: The soul weighs 21 g
In 1907 the American doctor Duncan MacDougall wanted to know the weight
of the soul.
Six patients suffering from tuberculosis were weighed on industrial
scales as they passed from life to death.
The experiment showed that the patients lost weight as their condition
worsened.
This is probably due to the loss of fluid secretions.
However, at the time of death, the patients all lost significant weight:
21 grams on average.
The weight of the
soul?
10. The creepiest Project: MKULTRA project
In 1950, CIA scientists began experimenting with all sorts of mind
control inventions.
They used LSD, electroshock therapy and sound repetition.
Most of their research was
destroyed during the Watergate scandal.
But there is evidence that the government drugged citizens without their
knowledge in order to observe them.
11. STANFORD prison experiments
The subjects of this experiment were separated into two groups.
The first group was the "guards" and the second group was the
"prisoners".
Despite the fact that their role
was randomly assigned, the "guards" quickly developed sadistic
behavior, forcing the "prisoners" to undress in public.
Also, prisoners were forced to sleep on the hard concrete.
One "prisoner" was so traumatized that he developed a nervous
breakdown and was forced to abandon the experiment.
And their sentence is irrevocable (Koh-Lanta on Shutter Island,
apparently).
