The weirdest experiments of all time

Drugging elephants, sexually arousing turkeys, and breathing life into corpses are some of the craziest experiments ever, voted and published by New Scientist magazine.

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In 1962, American researchers were curious as to what would happen to an elephant injected with a potent hallucinogenic drug (LSD). And they injected an elephant tusks with a cylinder full of medicine, 3,000 times the maximum dose for humans.

The weirdest experiments of all time

The elephant bellowed fiercely, fell and died within an hour, despite efforts to save his life with anti-epileptic drugs. “It is clear that elephants are very sensitive to the effects of LSD,” the researchers timidly concluded.

With the desire to restore life to the dead, Robert Cornish , a scientist at the University of California, USA, in the 1930s, pushed the corpse rocking up and down to circulate blood, and inject it. adrenaline and anticoagulants.

Expelled from school for this horrifying experiment , Cornish continues at home. He set up a laboratory in which a cardiopulmonary machine was created from a vacuum cleaner and radiator material.

Thomas McMonigle, a prisoner on the verge of death, volunteered to be a test subject for Cornish but was opposed by the California state government, because they were worried that if McMonigle came back to life, he might be free again and pose a threat. for the society.

In 1960, researcher Ian Oswald at the University of Edinburgh, UK, wondered if someone could sleep with their eyes open. He had the volunteers lie down on a couch, fixed their eyes open, placed a row of white lights in front of their eyes, attached electrodes to their legs to deliver painful shocks, and played loud music. ears.

The weirdest experiments of all time

3 brave volunteers agreed to participate in the experiment. Despite all the obstacles to sleep, the EEG monitor showed all fell asleep within 12 minutes.

Two researchers Martin Schein and Edgar Hale at Pennsylvania State University, USA, discovered that male turkeys, when placed in a room with a lifelike model of a female chicken, immediately rushed in. Fall in love with the fake one, with the same excitement as the real one.

The weirdest experiments of all time
Male turkeys are very greedy. (Photo: in.gov)

Schein and Hale experimented to find out what is the minimum level of sexual arousal , by slowly removing parts of the model until the male completely lost interest.

“Tails, feet and wings – the scientists have all left, but the stupid bird still rushes to the model, emits lustful calls and tries to find ways to perform the behavior,” the author said. New Scientist ‘s Alex Boese writes.

“In the end, only the head remained. The male chicken was still bleeding. In fact, he still preferred a head on a stick to a headless body,” Boese said.

The Stanford Prison Experiment is a social psychology experiment, conducted in 1971. Here, a group of students pretended to be prisoners, with the other group as prison guards.

This bizarre experiment was supposed to examine the psychological effects of a sense of power, focusing on the struggle between prisoners and guards.

While the guards displayed their love of power, the prisoners became increasingly restless, even rebellious. Some guards have even taken arbitrary measures and psychological torture against some inmates, prompting legal staff to intervene.

Ultimately, the findings of the experiment raised many questions, and the experiment itself was criticized for its unscientific methodology.

The weirdest experiments of all time
The experiment took place at the Stanford prison.

Fearing that things would go too far, psychologist Philip Zimbardo – who initiated the experiment announced the end of the experiment earlier than planned.

The weirdest experiments of all time
The experiment was conducted on 22 orphans, divided into 2 groups. (illustration).

In 1939, Wendell Johnson at the University of Iowa conducted a crazy experiment. He divided 22 orphans into 2 groups. The first group is always praised and encouraged in speeches. In contrast, the second group was regularly criticized for their mistakes.

At the end of the experiment, the children in the second group were severely psychologically affected and showed shyness and fear. The experiment was kept secret due to concerns about reputational damage, in the context of Nazi human experiments that were condemned by the world.

By 2001, the experiment was exposed. The University of Iowa had to apologize for the incident.

Project 4.1 is a medical study conducted by the United States on Marshall Islands residents who were exposed to fallout from the Castle Bravo nuclear test on March 1, 1954.

Experimental reports were later released showing that miscarriages and stillbirths in women exposed to radiation doubled in the first 5 years but then returned to normal. Children on this island have some developmental problems but are not common.

The weirdest experiments of all time
Tumor image of a radiation victim.

In the decades that followed, however, the undeniable effects of radiation exposure emerged. Children began to show signs of adenocarcinoma and one-third of those exposed to radiation showed signs of tumors.

In the report of the US Energy Commission indicated that the experimental group recognized the risk to health but did not perform any medical treatment. The report also alleged that the dual purpose of the program was to use Marshall residents as “guinea pigs” for experiments.

Project MKULTRA was conducted by the CIA from the early 1950s to the late 1960s. Victims were injected with a variety of drugs that caused hallucinations and altered brain function.

The weirdest experiments of all time
The victims were injected with a variety of drugs that caused hallucinations.

These drugs are administered to CIA officers, military personnel, doctors, government employees, prostitutes, mental patients, and other common people. These people were then brought into the brothel to observe the activity through a one-way mirror.

In 1973, now CIA Director Richard Helms ordered the destruction of all documents related to the project. So today, not much specific information about MKULTRA is known.

Aversion is a project of the South African army deployed in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century to conduct “gender transition” for gay white soldiers. Most of them are male, ranging in age from 16 to 24 years old.

The weirdest experiments of all time
Dr. Aubrey Levin, who conducted the experiment.

The missionaries, after discovering homosexual expressions, will order these soldiers to be sent to the base military unit. They would be tied to outdoor wooden poles, mocked, beaten, and locked in solitary confinement.

If they still haven’t asked for illness , the soldiers will be transferred to the Military Hospital for treatment. Here, doctors will conduct drug treatment, hallucinogenic shock, hormonal treatment by injecting sex hormones.

It is known that this project is conducted by Dr. Aubrey Levin, currently a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta.

Tuskegee was a clinical study with approximately 399 inoperable poor African-American black patients that was conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Albama (USA).

Part of the initial goal of the study was to determine if patients would do better with toxic remedies. However, this study became famous because doctors did not treat people with syphilis , but just watched how the disease developed.

These people do not receive treatment, but only receive free meals and burial insurance in the event of death. By the end of the study, only 74 trial participants were alive.

In the early years of the 20th century, forensic scientist Nicolas Minovici conducted one of the most gruesome studies in human history, asking his assistants to hang him, as well as others, to see. What happens when someone dies by hanging.

He put the noose around his neck, then ordered his assistants to pull the other end of the rope with all their might. As a result, the rope was stretched, lifting the daring professor several meters off the ground.

During the trials, he suffocated, lost consciousness and suffered a neck injury due to misjudging the situation. But he was still lucky to be alive.

The results of his 200-page thesis were published in 1904 in Romania under the title Study of Hanging. It describes in detail all the processes and related phenomena that occur in the death of the hangman. Much of the research’s information has been cited in important legal works.

Similar to the hanging study but more gruesome, it was the pathologist Frederick Zugibe’s crucifixion study. This experiment actually attracted a large number of volunteers, who wanted to feel what it was like to be Jesus (at the time of being crucified).

The weirdest experiments of all time
Cosmonaut Boris Morukov. (Photo: Space).

In 1986, cosmonaut Boris Morukov performed an experiment that involved asking 11 healthy people to lie in bed for 370 days without being allowed to get up. There, all subjects had to remain in their sleeping position and perform all of their daily activities, including eating, watching TV or bathing, in the same position.

After all, no one could pass this seemingly easy experiment. Physically, most human muscles and bones will break down in about 6 months to 1 year. The outer body will also suffer from nasty sores, known as bed sores.

In addition, mental health will also be affected, with an increased risk of anxiety and depression.

The weirdest experiments of all time
Paul Stapp once accepted to plunge himself out of a supersonic jet for scientific purposes. (Photo: Spectator).

In 1946, several experiments in the form of human endurance tests were carried out at Wright Field Air Force Base, USA. In it, an experiment required pilots to leave a supersonic jet while flying at high speed.

Paul Stapp volunteered for these experiments. Over the course of 7 years, he did them a total of 29 times, with being ejected from the plane at speeds of up to 322 km/h.

The experiments helped the US military design safer ejection seats for pilots in the event of a high-speed exit from the plane.