Category:
Experiments
Experiments
Dr. Dove’s Unicorn Bull
In 1933 Dr. W.F. Dove, a biologist at the University of Maine, conducted an experiment to find out if he could create a "unicorn bull." He removed the two knots of tissue on the side of the bull's head that would normally have developed into horns and transplanted them to the center of the forehead. The experiment was a success. A single, massive horn grew there. The unicorn horn made the bull the unchallenged leader of its herd. But Dr. Dove observed that the unicorn bull was actually an extremely docile creature. He wrote:
Although he is an animal with the hereditary potentiality for two horns, he recognizes the power of a single horn which he uses as a prow to pass under fences and barriers in his path, or as a forward thrusting bayonet in his attacks. And, to invert the beatitude, his ability to inherit the earth gives him the virtues of meekness. Consciousness of power makes him docile.
Link: Unicorn Garden
Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 17, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Science, Experiments, 1930s
Eating Glass
The new Google magazine archive is a goldmine for weirdness. Here's another find from Popular Science, Nov 1931:EATS GLASS AND STRING TO AID STOMACH STUDY
Glass beads, strands of knotted thread, and even tiny pellets of gold is the diet of Frederick Hoelzel, Chicago, Ill., university student, since he offered to aid physiologists of the University of Chicago in research work on indigestion. The foreign objects are mixed with his meals, and his stomachaches come under laboratory scrutiny. They are no novelty to the subject of this unusual experiment; he volunteered for the tests because he already suffered from severe digestive troubles.
Glass beads, strands of knotted thread, and even tiny pellets of gold is the diet of Frederick Hoelzel, Chicago, Ill., university student, since he offered to aid physiologists of the University of Chicago in research work on indigestion. The foreign objects are mixed with his meals, and his stomachaches come under laboratory scrutiny. They are no novelty to the subject of this unusual experiment; he volunteered for the tests because he already suffered from severe digestive troubles.
The full results of Hoelzel's glass-eating study were published in the American Journal of Physiology, (Mar 1, 1930), "The Rate of Passage of Inert Materials Through the Digestive Tract." The article includes a helpful chart, detailing exactly how long it took for various substances (including steel ball-bearings and bent silver wire) to pass through Hoelzel's system:
Hoelzel was an interesting character. He became an expert on nutrition and often subjected himself to grueling diet experiments -- particularly experiments involving fasting for extended periods of time. The Life photo archive has a picture of him, taken in 1955. He seems to have been one of the first researchers to make a link between calorie-restriction and longevity, though it didn't really work for him. He died in 1963 at the age of 73.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 12, 2008 -
Comments (8)
Category: Food, Nutrition, Science, Experiments
The Hard-To-Get Woman
Why do women play hard to get? According to research recently conducted at the University of Bristol, it's so that "men can prove themselves more worthy than their rivals."Here's how it works. The woman acts coy. The man acts eager and helpful. Eventually the woman decides, "I am going to have a child with this male." I assume she says this in a robotic voice.
The researchers hope their study "could eventually lead to a model that could work out the optimal amount of coyness for a woman to use in choosing a male."
I wrote about some similar research in Elephants on Acid. In 1973 researchers from the University of Wisconsin instructed a Nevada prostitute to play "hard to get," and then studied the reactions of her clients. Hard to get, in that context, meant that she didn't indicate to her clients whether she wanted to see them again. Client response was measured by the number of times the guy returned during the following month. The researchers concluded that men don't like women who play hard to get. Instead men like women who are easy for themselves but hard for everyone else to get. (Thanks, Sandy!)
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 09, 2008 -
Comments (7)
Category: Science, Experiments, Psychology, Women
How much heat can the body withstand?
In 1948 Dr. Craig Taylor at the University of California at Los Angeles created a heat chamber to determine the human tolerance for extreme heat. He experimented on himself. In the picture (from the Life archive) you can see him sitting in his hotbox, heated to a pleasant 220° fahrenheit. The egg on the metal pan in front of him was frying. The highest temperature he ever endured was 262°.There was a practical point to this. He was trying to determine the maximum heat a fighter pilot could withstand, should the refrigeration system in their plane fail.
For more info about Dr. Taylor's heat experiments, check out the old article from Popular Science posted on the Modern Mechanix blog.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 02, 2008 -
Comments (15)
Category: Science, Experiments, 1940s
The Mechanics of Stabbing
In a paper recently submitted to arXiv.org, researchers describe an attempt to determine the exact amount of force required to stab someone. No, they didn't stab real people. They stabbed synthetic materials such as polyurethane, foam, and ballistic soap. But oddly, no one had previously determined the exact amount of force needed for stabbing. Forensic scientists had simply used qualitative terms such as "mild force" or "severe force".Some of their findings: 1) The best household knife to stab someone with is a utility knife:
Four different commonly available household knives (cook’s, utility, carving and kitchen knives) were tested. The utility knife required the least amount of force or energy to penetrate the skin and was associated with the smallest amount of out of plane skin displacement, while the cook’s knife required the greatest force, energy and out of plane displacement.
2) However, not all knives are created equal. Even two identical knives by the same manufacturer can vary greatly in sharpness and ability to penetrate skin:
Evidence suggests that the quality control processes used to manufacture knives fail to produce consistently uniform blade points in nominally identical knives, leading to penetration forces which can vary widely...
the penetration forces associated with nominally identical knives, even virgin knives, can vary by as much as 100%.
the penetration forces associated with nominally identical knives, even virgin knives, can vary by as much as 100%.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 01, 2008 -
Comments (7)
Category: Science, Experiments
LIFE Photo Archive
Google recently announced it's struck a deal to host the entire photo archive of Life magazine. Millions of photos (including many previously unpublished ones) will be made freely searchable online. If you're the kind of person who likes to browse through archives searching for weird stuff, it's pretty much a goldmine.Only about 20% of the archive is online so far, but I've already had fun browsing through it. Below are a few photos I found doing a search for bird experiments.
The LIFE captions are pretty dry. I thought they could be improved by coming up with new captions in the style of LOL Birds. I'm sure the WU readers can come up with better captions than I was able to.
LIFE caption: Visual perception experiment on chickens, showing chick wearing a rubber helmet with prisms in the eyepieces, 1953.
My caption: "Mommy told me to wear my safety helmet!"
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LIFE caption: A vision experiment being done on pigeons at Maryland University, May 1962
My caption: "I'm watching you!"
My caption: "I'm watching you!"
LIFE caption: Chicken playing baseball during an animal experiment, October 1948.
My caption: "Canz I play too?"
My caption: "Canz I play too?"
Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 19, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Photography and Photographers, Science, Experiments
Shrimp on a Treadmill
Scientific researchers placed a shrimp on a shrimp-size treadmill in order to measure its speed and endurance. This information, they say, "will give us a better idea of how marine animals can perform in their native habitat when faced with increasing pathogens and immunological challenges." Luckily for us, they videotaped the experiment.The video has become hugely popular on the internet, spawning numerous remixes. For instance, witness Shrimp Jamming to Muzak:
There are so many of these remixes you could probably spend an entire day watching them.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 11, 2008 -
Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Nature, Science, Experiments, Video
Guess the Scientist, #2
What scientist wrote the following passage? The answer is in extended (and on the comments page).A small experimental room was fitted with a bed and other items conducive to a normal sexual response. The bed was placed directly against a wall through which an opening was made. Both sides of the opening were covered with a thick sheet of foam rubber. Slits were made in the foam rubber so that the leads to the instruments could be passed to the recording room while still maintaining the privacy of the experimental room. All of the subjects were married and were between the ages of 22 and 30.
To record the heart rate four electrocardiographic leads, fashioned from wire mesh attached to an elastic bandage, were fastened to the upper thighs and the upper arms. With this technique the ECG was readable even during the periods of greatest muscular activity. During foreplay, records were taken each minute on two Sanborn direct writing electrocardiographs. During coitus continuous recordings were made, and after withdrawal records were again made a 1-minute intervals. Three tests were performed on each of three couples.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 20, 2008 -
Comments (9)
Category: Quizzes, Guess the Scientist, Science, Experiments
Anger and Landscape Art
Do you feel angry and frustrated sitting in your windowless cubicle grinding away at a dead-end job? Recent research (published in the journal Environment and Behavior) indicates there may be an easy way to brighten your mood, at least if you're a man. Hang a few art posters.Researchers at Texas A&M University conducted an experiment in a simulated office. Participants were told that the researchers were investigating performance on a variety of computer tasks. In reality, the computer tasks were designed to "provoke stress and anger." The question was whether the artwork hanging on the wall (abstract art, nature posters, abstract and nature posters, or no art) would modify people's moods. The conclusion:
We found that nature and abstract art posters have a significant influence on state anger and stress for male participants but not for female participants. Male participants experienced less state anger when there are art posters on the wall of the office setting than when no art posters are present. They also experienced less stress when there were mixed abstract and nature art posters or all nature art posters.
It's not clear why men are calmed by wall art, but not women. Maybe men are just simpler creatures.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 29, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Art, Science, Experiments
Donation Meters
The donation meter!
The picture here portrays one in Denver, which I found on the Flickr page of msitarzewski.
Read all about Atlanta's recent experiment with donation meters here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 29, 2008 -
Comments (10)
Category: Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Entertainment, Government, Money, Charity, Signage, Stupidity, Experiments
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |