1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,639 Speaker 1: Guess what will? What's that? Mango? So have you heard 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: of this experiment from Albany Medical College where they tried 3 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: to figure out whether rats like jazz or classical music more? 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 1: I don't know how I haven't heard about this because 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: it seems like a really important experiment, and actually I 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: have to meet I am curious so so so which 7 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: one do they like? More? So? The scientists played for 8 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,439 Speaker 1: a lease on loop for ninety minutes, and then they'd 9 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: switched to Miles Davis and his song four, So they 10 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: just go from Ford for at least to four. And 11 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: of course they discovered that the rats like silence better 12 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,199 Speaker 1: than continuous music. But when they had to choose, the 13 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: rats like Beethoven more than hard bop. And I guess 14 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: that makes sense. If we're talking about on repeat and 15 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: they're having to hear this over and over, I guess 16 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: it's a little more soothing, right, Yeah. But the experimenters 17 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: weren't done then, so I have no idea why they 18 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: did this. They injected the rats with cocaine after this 19 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: for seven straight days, and once the rats had this 20 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: cocaine just racing through their system, they couldn't get enough. 21 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: Miles Davis also makes sense fairly. Science tells us that 22 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: coked up rats really love jazz. But there's a whole 23 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: world of questionable science experiments, from the weird to the 24 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: funny to the seriously ill advised. And that's what today's 25 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: show is all about. Let's dig in a their podcast. Listeners, 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as 27 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: always I'm joined by my good friend man Guesh Ticketer 28 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: and on the other side of the soundproof glass, putting 29 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: his good name on the line for the sake of 30 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: science conducting what is we assume the first ever scientific 31 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: attempt to bring a potato back to life. That's our 32 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,559 Speaker 1: friend and producer Tristan McNeil, a potato back to life. Mano, 33 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: this is big science. I saw the potatoes, I saw 34 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: the labco I had no idea what was going on there. 35 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: I think that's what the defibrillator is for. And you 36 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: might be wondering how you can tell the difference between 37 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: a live and a dead potato. Well, those are all 38 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: heavy questions, and hopefully Tristan's work will help shed some 39 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 1: light on just a few of those. It may be 40 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: two over our heads. We'll see most of what Tristan 41 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: does is But anyway, I know this experiment sounds ridiculous, 42 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: but honestly, everything on today's show sounds a little ridiculous. 43 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: So we'll dig into some of the weirdest, most questionable 44 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: science experiments in history. Now, Mango, I know, for a 45 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: while as a kid you wanted to be a scientist, 46 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: and I've heard you talk about some of the experiments 47 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: you conducted. So did you come up with any terrible 48 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: experiments along the way? So many? I mean, you know, 49 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: my dad's a scientist, and he's a good one. So 50 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: we test things and I tell him about inventions, ideas 51 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: for inventions I had, Like I had an idea for 52 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: a d microwave, and the whole idea was that, like 53 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: you could cool down a hot bagel fast. And yeah, 54 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 1: you tell me like why it would or wouldn't work, 55 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: or what I'd have to think about. But I think 56 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: the biggest failure I had as a kid was in 57 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: second grade and my friends and I were at the 58 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: bus stop and we always wanted a day off from school, 59 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: you know, especially when the weather was nice, because you 60 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: want to stay home and play and whatever. So I 61 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,119 Speaker 1: hatched this amazing scheme, like our our friend Kristen had 62 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: access to a ton of gum for some reason, and 63 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: I knew that gum on the ground is sticky when 64 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: you step on it. And I don't remember how we 65 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 1: calculated this out, but there were drawings and some terrible 66 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,359 Speaker 1: math involved, but we figured that if we could get 67 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: a big enough wad of sticky gum in the right place, 68 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: the school bus tire would probably stick to it and 69 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: get stuck there for the day and we wouldn't have 70 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: to go to school. I really want to hear that 71 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: this worked, but I'm going to guess that maybe this 72 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: didn't work. Yeah, of course not. I mean, my calculations 73 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: were off, I guess. And but the plan was like 74 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: so elaborate. We we planned about it, we talked about it, 75 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: We made this giant wad of gum, and then we 76 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: placed it in what we thought was going to be 77 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: the perfect spot. And then the school bus tire didn't 78 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: even roll over and so super anti climatic, and we 79 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: sort of like deflatedly walked onto the school bus. But uh, 80 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: now that I think about, the gum was also care free, 81 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: so it wasn't really like a sticky type of gum. 82 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: That was your problem because care Free was it's sugarless, right, Yeah, 83 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: but I mean you go to war with the gum 84 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 1: you have and it was not a great day for science. 85 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: All right, Well, today's show is all about odds science experiments, 86 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: and just because their bizarre doesn't mean we should automatically 87 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: discount them. In fact, I was reading this article by 88 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: Alex Boss and he wrote a great book about odds 89 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: science experiments, and there's a section where Alex explains why 90 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: he first got into weird projects and and why he 91 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: believes they should still be thought of as worthwhile. So 92 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: I just want to read a bit from this. So 93 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: here's what he says. I confess I had no profound 94 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: intellectual motive at first. I simply found them fascinating. They 95 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: filled me with disbelief, astonishment, discussed, and best of all laughter. 96 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: But with hindsight, perhaps there is a deeper message. These 97 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: experiments are not the work of cranks. All were performed 98 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: by honest, hard working scientists who were not prepared to 99 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: accept a common sense explanation of how the world works. 100 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: Sometimes such single mindedness leads to brilliant discoveries. At other 101 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: times it can end up closer to madness. Unfortunately, there's 102 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: no way of knowing in advance where the journey will lead. Yeah, 103 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: I mean, that's certainly something to keep in mind as 104 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: we go along. But while it might be true that 105 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 1: none of the people that Alex talked about were crackpots, 106 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: some of the ones I want to talk about definitely work. 107 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: So this includes the first guy we've gone on the list, 108 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: a Renaissance era physician and alchemist named Paracelsus. Now Parasulsis 109 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: is known for doing some of the earliest research in 110 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: toxicology and also psychotherapy, which are I guess both weird 111 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: in their own right, but without doubt his strongest claim 112 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: to theme was his account of how to grow your 113 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 1: own homunculous. To grow your own homunculous, mega can grow 114 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: your own I do want to confess I'm a little 115 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: rusty on my pseudoscience lingo from what you said the right. So, so, 116 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: what exactly is a humunculous. It's a mythological creature. Apparently, 117 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: parasols Is believed in all sorts of those, including giants 118 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: and wood nymphs. But homunculus was basically like a tiny 119 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,040 Speaker 1: living human the size of a doll or something and 120 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,720 Speaker 1: Paracelsis actually claimed to have made his own, which he 121 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: said was about a foot tall. Right, And you said 122 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: this man was a doctor, right, Yeah, I mean it 123 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: was easier to get into medical school back then. Some 124 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: people thought he was a medical genius. Others thought he 125 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: was more of this loud mouth drunk type. I'm guessing 126 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: the truth was somewhere in between. But these are actually 127 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: the instructions Paracelsus has laid out to create your own 128 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: little homunculus. So here we go. Let the seat of 129 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: a man by itself be putrified in a gored glass 130 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: and sealed up in horse done for the space of 131 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: forty days, until so long as it begins to be alive, 132 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: move and stir. After this time, it will be something 133 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: like a man, yet transparent and without a body. Now, 134 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: after this, if it be every day warily, imprudently nourished 135 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: and fed with man's blood, and be kept for the 136 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 1: ace of forty weeks and a constant equal heat of 137 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: horse dung, it will become a true and living infant. 138 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: You know what, just hearing this, it kind of makes 139 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: me want to go back and watch those old s 140 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: n L skits where Steve Martin played the medieval barber, 141 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: because it sounds like pretty similar advice. And you know, 142 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: I admire paracelsis ingenuity, and obviously at the time they 143 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: had a much different set of knowledge. But I feel 144 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: like it might be smarter for the human race to 145 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: stick with the you know, the old fashioned horse dung 146 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: freeway to make a true and living infant. But anyway, 147 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: you know, word of crazy experiments like this and these 148 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: medical fallacies, they got passed around a lot during the 149 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: Middle Ages and even into the Renaissance. So much so, 150 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: in fact, that a physician philosopher named Sir Thomas Brown 151 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: actually put together a massive list of these widely believed 152 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: tall tales, and he referred to these as vulgar errors. 153 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: So Brown would go around testing all these absurd claims 154 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: in order to disprove them once and for all. So, 155 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: for example, one weird idea that it's bred in the 156 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: sixteen hundreds was that you could an accurate weather vane 157 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: just by hanging a dead kingfisher bird from a string. 158 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: It's as simple as that. I love art and crafts projects. 159 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: I'm guessing that didn't end wilda well. Apparently he found 160 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: himself a dead kingfisher one day, and he hung it 161 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: up from a beam outside, and much to his dismay, 162 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: the bird just sort of dangled and seemed to sway 163 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: at random, you know, as you'd expect from a corpse 164 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: of a dead bird. But you know, being this man 165 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: of science, Brown knew he couldn't definitively disprove this claim 166 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: with just a single dead kingfisher, So he got another one, 167 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,199 Speaker 1: strung it up next to the first, and watched his 168 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: both birds spun aimlessly in different directions. So with that, 169 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: with that degree of science, Mango Brown was able to 170 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: say conclusively that dead kingfishers are a poor way to 171 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: determine win direction. So forget trying. This is just not 172 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:54,719 Speaker 1: gonna work. I do like that it took uh, just 173 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: two dead birds to put a stop to this idea. 174 00:08:57,280 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: But you know, no one else had thought of this, 175 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: and I feel sorry for like whatever poor salesman at 176 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: the market had stocked up on baskets of kingfishers, and 177 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: I guess like Brown just ruined his entire business model. 178 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: That's all there. And other interesting cat I came across 179 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: was this guy named Johann Conrad Dipple, and he was 180 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: this German scientist in the late sixteen hundreds who had 181 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: actually been born in the real Castle Frankenstein, which is 182 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: kind of amazing. And of course he had a lot 183 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: of ideas. Probably his least bizarre achievement was that he 184 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,959 Speaker 1: developed one of the world's first synthetic pigments, in fact, 185 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: the first. It's a dye called Prussian blue that's still 186 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: in use today. Yeah, I've heard of Prussian blue. But 187 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: I think you said least bizarre achievements. So what was 188 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: his most bizarre achievement? Yeah, I did because I wanted 189 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: to talk about Dipple's oil. It was supposed to be 190 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: kind of a life extending potion, but was in reality 191 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: just this like terrible, disgusting slurry made from a mix 192 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: of random animal bones and hides. It's too bad. I'm 193 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,079 Speaker 1: curious that did he sell a lot of dipples oil. 194 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: Imagine it must have been a big hit with the 195 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: local villagers there. Yeah, you'd think so, but not so much. 196 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: In fact, Dipple was eventually run out of town because 197 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:07,920 Speaker 1: of all these rumors that started circulating about what he 198 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,079 Speaker 1: was really doing in his lab. Like one of the 199 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: rumors claimed that Dipple was a grave robber and that 200 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 1: he'd once tried to move a soul from one corpse 201 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: to another using just a funnel, a hose and a 202 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: bit of lubricants. You need the lubricant to get it through. 203 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: But yeah, I think we can both agree that that's 204 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: a bit of the suspect signs there. I mean, I 205 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: guess so I could see where they were going with that. 206 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:30,839 Speaker 1: But but I do see what you mean about him 207 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: being a mad scientist, all right, But if you don't mind, 208 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: I kind of want to transition away from the total 209 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: crackpots and start talking about some of the scientists who 210 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: are maybe I don't know, just a little misguided instead. 211 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,440 Speaker 1: And thankfully, I think I have the perfect person to 212 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: help us make that leap, because he really does tow 213 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: this line between those two types. And his name was 214 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: Stubborn's Firth. Isn't that a great name. It just seems 215 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: like somebody that would tow those lines full Stubbens. But 216 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: in the early nineteenth century he was training to be 217 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,439 Speaker 1: a doctor in Philadelphia, and during this time Stubbins began 218 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: studying the effects of yellow fever, and that was, of 219 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: course a disease that had laid ways to the area's 220 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: population just a few years before this, and he had 221 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: noticed that the fever hardest hit in the summer months, 222 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: and then it would disappear almost entirely by wintertime, and 223 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 1: so this led him to the conclusion that all these 224 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: widely held opinions about yellow fever being contagious were completely false. 225 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: So to him, it seemed much more likely that yellow 226 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: fever was brought on by excessive heat and food and noise, 227 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 1: and all of these things were much more abundant in 228 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: the summer than they were in the winter. I like 229 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: the idea of just a lot of noise causing yellow fever. 230 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: It does sound like this guy's heart was in the 231 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: right place. Like, I know, this doesn't feel like a 232 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: sound theory, But what goes on from here? Well, this 233 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: is where Stubborns needed proof on this. So so the 234 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: doctor and training began a series of self experiments to 235 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,439 Speaker 1: show that no matter how often he was exposed to 236 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: yellow fever, he would never catch it. And not being 237 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,319 Speaker 1: the kind of guy to do anything halfway, Stubbors decided 238 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: that his best chance to ensure he was properly exposed 239 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: to the disease was to use This was the quote 240 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:10,359 Speaker 1: from this notebook, fresh black Vomit from Yellow fever patients. 241 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,120 Speaker 1: So this is already disgusting and I'm pretty grossed out, 242 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: but I do have to ask, like, what do you 243 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: mean by he used it? He used to how well 244 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: in all sorts of ways, and this actually gets even 245 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: more disgusting. But here the way. So first he tried 246 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: to make small cuts on his arms, and then he 247 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: would pour some of this vomit into his wounds. Next 248 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: he DAPs some of the mess directly into his eyes. 249 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: Then he heated some in a skillet and inhaled the fumes. 250 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,559 Speaker 1: And then lastly, as if those things weren't gross enough, 251 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: he just went for it. And I'm not joking. I 252 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: think you saw this coming. He just chugged some of 253 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: the stuff, which makes me feel sick just hearing it. 254 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,679 Speaker 1: But I mean, Stubbns never got sick, which, of course, 255 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: and I don't know how he would know that he 256 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: didn't get sick, because I can't imagine doing any of 257 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: these things and not vomiting yourself. But he took this 258 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: all as proof for his theory, so I don't understand 259 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: how any of that's possible. Like I thought yellow fever 260 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: was contagious, so it definitely has. I mean, it's highly contagious. 261 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: But as we know, the disease needs to come into 262 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: direct contact with the blood stream in order to cause 263 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: that infection. And that's likely why Stubborns observed so many 264 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: more cases of yellow fever in the summer. There were 265 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: just more mosquitoes around to spread the disease. So I 266 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: get that, But why didn't Stubborns get sick when he 267 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: was cutting himself in you know, like exposing that stuff 268 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: to his cuts, And I mean that that had to 269 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: get in his blood stream right, Well, normally yes, But 270 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 1: as it turned out in this case, most of the 271 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: patients whose samples he used were in the late stages 272 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: of yellow fever, and by that point they were actually 273 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,439 Speaker 1: no longer contagious. Though of course, you know Stubborns didn't 274 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,599 Speaker 1: know this. Well, I mean, i'd say we're firmly in 275 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: the realm of misguided experiments after that one. So I'm 276 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:49,719 Speaker 1: actually gonna keep the ball rolling with what I hope 277 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 1: will be something of a palate cleanser. And this is 278 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: this crazy study I found out about mating instincts of turkeys. 279 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: I like how you're calling mating instincts of turkeys a 280 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: a palette, but tell me more here. Yeah, it's a 281 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: turkey and moves bush. So wild turkeys are notoriously difficult 282 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: to hunt, which is why human hunters often resort to 283 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,559 Speaker 1: these lifelike decoy models of female turkeys. They use these 284 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,440 Speaker 1: to lure the bigger male birds to them, and the 285 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: males don't seem to mind or even notice the difference. 286 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: For the most part. They're actually perfectly content to mate 287 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: with these phony birds. And that behavior is actually what 288 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: caught the attention of these two researchers at the University 289 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania. Oh wow, so we're back in Pennsylvania again. Yeah, 290 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 1: it's a hotbed of science. But anyway, these guys that 291 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: you pen started wondering what was the minimal stimulus for 292 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: exciting a turkey, and so to figure that out, they 293 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: decided to gradually remove parts from a decoy turkey until 294 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: the male inevitably lost interests. So first they removed the 295 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: tail and the tail feathers, and then the feet and 296 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: lastly the wings. But despite all of these missing appendages, 297 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: the males were still eager to meete with the decoy. 298 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess they just love the personnel. And 299 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: eventually the researchers were down to just ahead on a stick, 300 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: and the strangest far is that the mail try keys 301 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: were still interested. Yeah, that's pretty crazy. I have to 302 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 1: admit I feel slightly scandalized and more than a little 303 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: concerned about what the good people of Pennsylvania are doing 304 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: with their time. All in the name of science, I guess. 305 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: But alright, well, since you open the seal on weird 306 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: animal studies, there's one I've been dying to tell you about. Absolutely, 307 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break. You're listening to 308 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: part Time Genius, and we're talking about some of the 309 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: strangest experiments in the history of science. Now for better 310 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: Whereas many of the weirdest projects do tend to involve 311 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: animal test subjects, but rather than focusing on the more 312 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: upsetting ones where animals come to harm, instead, I want 313 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: to tell you the story of a young boy and 314 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: his adopted chimpanzee sister. And yes, I said it, his 315 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: adopted sister. Now, probably the most troubling aspect of this 316 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: one is that the boy's father decided to carry out 317 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: his experiment using his own son. But don't worry before 318 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: I tell you about this, the boy makes it through unharmed, 319 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: or at least more or less unharmed anyway. The father's 320 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: name was Winthrop Kellogg, and he was a psychologist who 321 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: wondered what would happen if an animal was raised by 322 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: humans as a human. This was in the early nineteen thirties, 323 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: so if you think about the time, then this is 324 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: when you know the Tarzan books were all the rage, 325 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: and there are also several real life accounts of feral 326 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: children who had been raised by animals, and so Kellogg 327 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: was inspired by these stories and he wanted to test 328 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: the opposite case, like, if an animal was raised as 329 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: a human, would it eventually act like a human too? 330 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: Oh so it's like a bizarro jungle book or like 331 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: the reverse of a Mowgli situation. Yeah. So So that 332 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: in Kellogg brought home a seven month old female champion 333 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: zee named Gua, and he and his wife, who must 334 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,960 Speaker 1: have been this extremely patient woman, started raising the alongside 335 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: their ten month old son Donald. And the Kelloggs treated 336 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,199 Speaker 1: their two kids exactly the same. Donald and Gua were 337 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,160 Speaker 1: allowed to play together, they ate together. They also took 338 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: part in regular tests to track their development. For example, 339 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: there was this one cookie test where the Kelloggs hung 340 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 1: a cookie from a string in the middle of the room, 341 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: and then they timed how long it took the boy 342 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: and the chimp to reach it. Okay, so I mean 343 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: he was pitting a chimp against a baby, so the 344 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: chip mop the floor with him, not surprising, it was 345 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,400 Speaker 1: no contest. In fact, Want typically outperformed Donald on just 346 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: about all the tests they took, except some of the 347 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: ones that involved language acquisition. So I know this is 348 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,720 Speaker 1: supposed to be like a non upsetting study, but constantly 349 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: losing to a chimp couldn't have been good for a 350 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: kid's self esteem, right, probably not, But you know, one 351 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 1: downside did become clear about nine months into the experiment, 352 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: and and that was that baby Donald's own language skills 353 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: were not as far along as they should have been. 354 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: And looking back on this, that's probably not such a 355 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,400 Speaker 1: big surprise. But it he sometimes did better than Gua 356 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: on their language based test, it really wasn't by much, 357 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 1: and so it started to look like, rather than Donald 358 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,119 Speaker 1: having a humanizing effect on Gua, he was actually starting 359 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: to adapt some to her way instead. And the deciding 360 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: moment came one day when Donald let his parents know 361 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: how hungry he was by imitating the barking sounds that 362 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,360 Speaker 1: Gua was making whenever she wanted. So when the Kellogg's 363 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: heard the food bark coming from their human son, they 364 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: decided then it was time to pull the plug on 365 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: the experiment. But I like that it took that much 366 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: to get them to realize maybe it wasn't a great idea. Yeah, 367 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: it seems like a smart move. But strangely enough, the 368 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: Kellogg's weren't the only scientists parents to use their own 369 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: kids as test subjects. So I was reading about this 370 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: other psychologist from the nineteen thirties named Clarence Luba, and 371 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 1: he used his own kids to determine if people learned 372 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,640 Speaker 1: to laugh when tickled or if it's an innate response. 373 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: I mean, this sounds more pleasant than being pitted against 374 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: the chimp. But I mean, if you're going to use 375 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: your own kids as test subjects, at least don't be 376 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: creepy about it, you know. Yeah, I mean I guess 377 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: the is on your definition of creepy. Because Luba decided 378 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: that he shouldn't laugh or show a happy expression while 379 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:09,239 Speaker 1: he was tickling his kids because that might ruin the experiment. So, uh, 380 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: you know, the idea is that they might mimic his 381 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: behavior or use it to infer the proper response is 382 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,119 Speaker 1: to laugh when tickled. So just to prevent that, Luba 383 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: actually banned all unauthorized tickling in his household and he 384 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: institute these clinical daily tickling sessions instead. And during these 385 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: designated tickling times, uh, Luba would hide his facial expressions 386 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: behind a mask and then joylessly tickle his son. Oh, 387 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: I take it back, man, this is the creepiest thing 388 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: I've ever heard me or tickling sessions. That's just I 389 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,239 Speaker 1: don't know, maga, It's just like deeply unnerving. Yeah. And 390 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: Luba even took this measured approach to how he tickled 391 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 1: his son, like first he started with a light tickle 392 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: and then he would like tickle more enthusiastically, and he 393 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: always did the same order like he um. I think 394 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: he started under the armpits and then went to the 395 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: ribs and then chin, neck, knees, feet, and uh. He 396 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: kept this up for a full seven months, and then 397 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: after that he repeated the experiment for another seven months 398 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,639 Speaker 1: with his daughter when she was born. This is just 399 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: I don't want to hear about this one anymore because 400 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 1: I I guess I am curious, though, So what were 401 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: Louba's results. Well, in both cases, as you might guess, 402 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: he found that his kids spontaneously laughed when tickled, even 403 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: though they had never been shown that behavior before. So 404 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,479 Speaker 1: it would seem that laughing when tickled really is an 405 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 1: innate response, and it only took weirding out a couple 406 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 1: of his own toddlers to figure that out. Well, I 407 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: guess it's worth it in the name of science, except 408 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: not at all. That is so creepy. All right, Well, 409 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,439 Speaker 1: since we're getting into this kind of psychological territory, I 410 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: have to mention a series of studies carried out by 411 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 1: Dr You and Cameron, and these were in the nineteen 412 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 1: fifties and sixties. Cameron was convinced that the brain could 413 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: be reprogrammed by imposing new thought patterns on it, and 414 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: his hope was that the method could be used to 415 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 1: help patients with schizophrenia achieve a more clear and maybe 416 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: positive way of thinking. So the way it was supposed 417 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: to work was that the patients would wear a pair 418 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: of headphones and then they would listen to these audio 419 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: messages that were played over and over, sometimes for days 420 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: or or even weeks at a time, and this was 421 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: something Cameron called psychic driving, because the idea was that 422 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: repeated messages would be driven gradually into the patient's psyche. 423 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: And the press gave the method a different name, though 424 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,800 Speaker 1: they actually called it beneficial brainwashing, which I mean, I 425 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,199 Speaker 1: guess sounds like good branding at least. Yeah, I mean, 426 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: it's a bit of an oxymoron of a name. But 427 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,439 Speaker 1: it didn't deter Cameron, so for over a decade he 428 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 1: tested his method on hundreds of unwitting patients, many of 429 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: whom didn't even have schizophrenia. In fact, even people with 430 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: minor ailments would sometimes check into the clinic where Cameron worked, 431 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:45,960 Speaker 1: and before they knew it, they were drugged, strapped to 432 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: a bed, and forced to listen to loop recordings of 433 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: these aspirational messages. I mean, it's actually crazy to think 434 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: about some of these things. Yeah, it's terrifying. So what 435 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: kind of messages were they made to listen to. Well, 436 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: they were mostly your typical positive enforcement kind of stuff, 437 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: you know, like they would say things like people like 438 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,760 Speaker 1: you and need you, and and you have confidence in yourself. 439 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: It sounds a little bit Stewart small exactly. Well, but 440 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: one time, though, Cameron put his patients into a drug 441 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 1: induced sleep and then made them listen to the message 442 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: that said, when you see a piece of paper, you 443 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: want to pick it up. That's all that's said. Then, 444 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: once all the patients had woken up, Cameron drove them 445 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,120 Speaker 1: one by one to a gymnasium where a single piece 446 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: of paper was waiting for them on the floor of 447 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,960 Speaker 1: the gym, and, according to report Cameron later wrote about 448 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 1: the experiment, most of the patients, without any prompting, spontaneously 449 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: walked over and picked up the paper. Such a dumix, man, 450 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: it feels like like you should test it with, like 451 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: putting a piece of paper and a puppy in a box. 452 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: Right right, that's a good one. You should be a scientist, 453 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 1: right Well, I basically am. But it doesn't sound like 454 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: Cameron also had like the full consent of his patients. 455 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: I mean, did his operations get shut quickly like once 456 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: people caught onto what was happening. Well you would think so, 457 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: but actually when the CIA found out what Cameron had 458 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: been up to, it actually started funding his experiments in secret, 459 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: and this move ultimately backfired. Though there was a group 460 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: of Cameron's former patients that decided to sue the CIA 461 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: actually for supporting his work. I see. I eventually settled 462 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,159 Speaker 1: the matter out of court and Cameron was forced to 463 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: concede that his brainwatching experiments, as as he called it, 464 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:27,680 Speaker 1: had been what did he say said, a ten year 465 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: trip down the wrong road. I guess that's one way 466 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: to put it. Yeah, I guess it's putting it lightly. 467 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: But cameron story actually reminds me of another psychologist who 468 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 1: tried to change the thought patterns with weird repeated messages 469 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: and it didn't go as planned as you might have guessed. 470 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: And I'll tell you about that in a minute, but 471 00:23:45,400 --> 00:24:01,160 Speaker 1: first we got to take another quick break. Okay, mano, 472 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: let's hear it. What's the strange subliminal science project that 473 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 1: you wanted to tell us about? Sure, so, I'm actually 474 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:09,919 Speaker 1: gonna set the mood for this one. So the years 475 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,719 Speaker 1: nineteen for you two. You're sleep in a cabin at 476 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: a summer camp in upstate New York. On all sides 477 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: of you or other teenage boys also sleeping, and just 478 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: a few feet away there's a man standing alone in 479 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: the darkness. He speaks out loud to his unconscious audience. 480 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: Again and again he mechanically recites the same one phrase, 481 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: my fingernails taste terribly bitter. My fingernails taste terribly bitter. 482 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: Oh man, go, I gotta stop at these. You found 483 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: this weird experiments? Are you sure this is a science 484 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: story and not just a horror story? You're creeping me 485 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,160 Speaker 1: out today? I know from from what I can tell 486 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: you really was in the name of the science. Uh. 487 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: This guy's name was um Dr Lawrence Lesson, and that 488 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 1: night in the cabin he was actually conducting the sleep 489 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: learning experiment. So all of the boys have actually been 490 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: diagnosed with chronic nail biting, and the hope was that 491 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,120 Speaker 1: they could be cured by you know, these nocturnal messaging. 492 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: You know, I'm trying to think about this. So you 493 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,400 Speaker 1: said this was in the forties, and so I'm trying 494 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: to think of how he would have delivered these messages. So, 495 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,920 Speaker 1: so did Lesson have to like creep over them and 496 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,919 Speaker 1: repeat this phrase, you know, all night long to them? 497 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,199 Speaker 1: That just seems so weird. I mean, it's not like 498 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,679 Speaker 1: he could have used a phonograph or something like that, right, Yeah, well, 499 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 1: I mean it adds to the story. But Lesson actually 500 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: did start the study using a recorded message and he 501 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: played it like three hundred times a night for the kids. 502 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: But he had to take the task over himself when 503 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,119 Speaker 1: his phonograph broke and it actually broke down five weeks 504 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,680 Speaker 1: into his experiment. Five weeks? How long was this study 505 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:43,439 Speaker 1: is supposed to last the whole summer? Apparently, like can 506 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: you actually imagine these boys coming back to school and 507 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,639 Speaker 1: the first day and and uh and they have to 508 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 1: answer these questions for the classmates about how they spent 509 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: their summers and and you know, other kids would be like, oh, 510 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: I went to Hawaii or you know, I went to 511 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: my grandparents and they're like, I spent eight weeks in 512 00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: a cabin with some weirdo telling me how bad my 513 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: fing your nail days. Oh my gosh. So so I 514 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: do have to know. I mean, that sounds terrible, But 515 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,120 Speaker 1: was the experiment of success, like did the kids stop 516 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,919 Speaker 1: biting their nails? Kind of? I mean, at the end 517 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,959 Speaker 1: of the summer, Lession determined that the boys had been cured, 518 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: which made it seem like his sleep learning techniques had 519 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,479 Speaker 1: some real merit. But unfortunately, other researchers looked into it, 520 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 1: and they tested his method and you know, one study 521 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: in ninety six track participants brain activity to make sure 522 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: they were totally asleep before playing this anti nail binding message, 523 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 1: and in that case, like the unconscious messaging didn't have 524 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: any effect at all. So the whole idea was that, 525 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,719 Speaker 1: you know, those had probably kicked the habit because they 526 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 1: were still someone awake during those readings. Yeah, yeah, but 527 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: I guess beneficial brainwashing really does work. That's uh, that's 528 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: interesting and weird. You know, one kind of weird experiment 529 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: we haven't talked much about today are the government funded 530 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: kind of experiments. And you know, we did cover some 531 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: of these back in our episode on Bizarre government investments. 532 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: But I came across another one this week, and it's 533 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: just too good to share. And it's called Bird's Eye bomb, 534 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 1: and it was developed during World War two by the 535 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: famous psychologist and behavior's named BF Skinner. Now, the idea 536 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: here amounted to what was basically a pigeon guided missile. 537 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,439 Speaker 1: And when you know what, the inspiration came to Skinner 538 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: one day when he was watching a nearby flock of pigeons. 539 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: As he later wrote of this sense and and he says, 540 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: suddenly I saw them as devices with excellent vision and 541 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 1: extraordinary maneuverability, could they not guide a missile? So? I mean, 542 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:32,640 Speaker 1: who hasn't seen a flock of pigeons and thought that? 543 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,199 Speaker 1: I have a little confused that, Like, how exactly is 544 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: this supposed to work? All right? Well, Skinner trained the 545 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:42,399 Speaker 1: pigeons to peck carefully at chosen images, like an enemy 546 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: battleship for example. And you know, once the birds had 547 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:48,399 Speaker 1: committed these targets to memory, Skinner would put them in 548 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:52,120 Speaker 1: these custom made missile nose cones. And so the makeshift 549 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,680 Speaker 1: cockpit included a little plastic screen and they used mirrors 550 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: for this, and then there would be an image of 551 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: the missile's flight path that could be projected onto it. 552 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: So by pecking at the screen, the pigeons were able 553 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 1: to alter the coordinates and basically by doing this, they 554 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: would steer it toward a specific target. I mean, that's 555 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 1: that's both ingenious and insane. And you know, this idea 556 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,920 Speaker 1: of like kama kaze pigeons sounds so ridiculous, But I mean, 557 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,280 Speaker 1: is there anybody it could really work? So? Surprisingly, yes, 558 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,480 Speaker 1: I mean, preliminary tests proved the pigeons were top notch 559 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,920 Speaker 1: pilots and plenty of scientists endorsed the project in light 560 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: of those early results, but in the end, the military 561 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: just couldn't stomach the thought of funding such a silly 562 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: sounding project. So the cut Skinner's funding completely in October 563 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: of four. And it's just a shame because Top Gun 564 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: could have been a totally different movie if you think 565 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: about it. I know, the animated Disney movie Top Gun 566 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: would have been Okay, So you know you sneaked in 567 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 1: another animal based study, and so I'm going to do 568 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 1: the same and tell you about this fateful experiment that 569 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: sent the first humble tart de grade to space. All Right, 570 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: I feel like I've seen tartar grades and the news 571 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: or reported on a lot in recent years. But remind 572 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: me of what that is because it rings a bell 573 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: as an animal, but it also just sounds like something 574 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: that might be from like Doctor Who or something. M Yeah, So, 575 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: targe grades are these microscopic, eight legged potato looking things. 576 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: They look like little monster potatoes. Sometimes they were called 577 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: water bears or moss piglets, and you can actually find 578 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: them in just about every habitat on Earth. You can 579 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: find them on like mountaintops, rainforest, the bottom of lags 580 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,560 Speaker 1: even even in Antarctica, which is pretty incredible. But you know, 581 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: speaking of doctor who, because you mentioned it, the team 582 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 1: behind the study must have been fans, because they actually 583 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: named their experiment targe grades in space or tartis. Actually, 584 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: I just pulled up a picture and they do look 585 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: both cute and freaky, and it's crazy that they're only 586 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: like a millimeter big. But so you said, we shot 587 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: these things into space for some reason, Yeah, a team 588 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: of European researchers wanted to test just how resilient these 589 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: tartar grades really are, because you can probably tell from 590 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: that list of habitats that you know, they're hardy creatures 591 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: and they can survive temperatures as low as negative three 592 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: twenty eight degrees fahrenheit or as high as three hundred 593 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit. They can also stand up to pressures as 594 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: powerful as six thousand times that of the Earth's atmosphere, 595 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: and they can even survive doses of radiation that are 596 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: thousands of times stronger than it would take to kill 597 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,000 Speaker 1: a humans. So clearly they're super tough creatures, and it 598 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 1: actually turns out there so tough they can even survive 599 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: exposure to the vacuum of outer space. Wow. So so 600 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: researchers just flew a bunch of these what you what 601 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: do you call them? I like the name of moss picklets. 602 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: I think that was my favorite. So they flew these 603 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: things into space and just like chuck them out the 604 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: airlock or what Yeah, I mean the the approach was 605 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: a little more nuanced than that. So first they dehydrated 606 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 1: the targerets and uh, you know, that makes them enter 607 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 1: this state of hibernation where all their metabolic activity drops 608 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: to about point one percent of normal levels. And then 609 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 1: once they're in this protective state, the researchers exposed one 610 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: group of water bears to the acumum space and another 611 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: to both the vacuum space and this immense radiation from 612 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,560 Speaker 1: the Sun. And after full ten days of this, right 613 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: ten days, the target grades were brought back to Earth 614 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: and rehydrated, and amazingly, sixty percent of the targe grades 615 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: exposed only to outer space survived, and even among the 616 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: ones who were also exposed to solar radiation, a handful 617 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: were successfully revived. And the craziest part, some of these 618 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,200 Speaker 1: even went on to produce healthy offspring. So those things 619 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: are pretty much unstoppable. But you know, I actually have 620 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 1: my own weird space experiment to share, and I happen 621 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: to think it blows yours away. Man, I just wanted 622 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: to get heads up on this. And this. This comes 623 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: from when a two man crew took the Gemini three 624 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: on a several trips around the Earth's orbit, and one 625 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,840 Speaker 1: of the astronauts on that mission, John Young, was apparently 626 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: not a fan of the kind of the standard food 627 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 1: from a tube that NASA was typically providing them, because 628 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: once the pair reached orbit, Young revealed that he had 629 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: smuggled aboard a contraband corned beef sandwich in to his 630 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 1: back pocket. I mean, I love the story. I know 631 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: the story, but I'm not really sure you can call 632 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: it an experiment. I mean it sounds more like a 633 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: great anecdote about a hungry astronaut. I don't know, man, 634 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: Go actually, let let me help me read this transcript. 635 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: I've got this for you. I want you to help 636 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: me out here and you'll see what I mean by this. 637 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,440 Speaker 1: So I'm gonna be John Young, and you're going to 638 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: be Gus Grissome, the co pilot. Are you ready to 639 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: do this? Yeah, I've got the script here go, go 640 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: for it. It's your line. First, What is it a 641 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: corn beef sandwich? Where did that come from? I brought 642 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: it with me. Let's see how it tastes, smells, doesn't it. 643 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: That's it. That's the whole. The whole incident lasted like 644 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: thirty seconds, including the time I know, but it was 645 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: worth it because you know, there was thirty seconds, and 646 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,440 Speaker 1: that included the time it took the nibble the sandwich 647 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: before Young tucked it back into his flight suit. But see, 648 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 1: they wanted to see what it tasted like. That's the experiment. 649 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 1: Does a corn beef sandwich taste and smell the same 650 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: in space as it does on Earth? And Young suffered 651 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: for his science too. After the mission. He was sternly 652 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 1: chastised by his superiors at NASA, though I guess they 653 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:08,640 Speaker 1: didn't come down on too hard because he was still 654 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:10,320 Speaker 1: permitted to land on the Moon as part of the 655 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:14,720 Speaker 1: Apollo sixteen mission. Well, I am glad that an illicit 656 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,479 Speaker 1: sandwich incident didn't cost him his career. Well all right, Well, 657 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: I can tell from the smoke coming out of Tristan's 658 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 1: potato that we're running short on time. I do have 659 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,959 Speaker 1: a few more weird experiments I wanted to cover, though, well, 660 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:35,040 Speaker 1: thankfully that's exactly what the factops. BOYD, why don't we 661 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: start with an experiment by the Swedish playwright August Strenberg. 662 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: Strendberg wasn't a scientist, but he certainly had some ideas, 663 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: and one of those was his belief that plants had 664 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 1: nervous systems and for some reason botanist had just overlooked it. Anyway, 665 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 1: he was determined to show everyone that plants could feel things. 666 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: So during his walks around town, he would take out 667 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: some morphine and you know the way we all carry morphine, 668 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: I guess in our back pockets, so that he would 669 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: inject whatever he saw to see how it would react. 670 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 1: And one day he was arrested for injecting an apple 671 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: with the drug. But when he explained he was just 672 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: trying to get the apple high in the name of science, 673 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: the officer figured he was just a sweet lunatic and 674 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 1: not someone trying to go around poisoning the city and 675 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: let him go. So, you know, I've always heard that 676 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: thing about how a soul weighs twenty one grahams, which 677 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 1: is odd, like, why does that have to be in 678 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,440 Speaker 1: the metric system we live in America about it, right, 679 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:31,239 Speaker 1: which should be like three of announced. But anyway, I 680 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: was curious where the idea came from, and apparently it 681 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: goes back to to this Massachusetts doctors, this guy named 682 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: Duncan McDougal, and so this actually comes from Discover magazine. 683 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,520 Speaker 1: But to figure it out, McDougall made this bed fitted 684 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: with scales, and then he convinced a bunch of terminally 685 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:49,720 Speaker 1: ill patients and this is pretty crazy that they should 686 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: make it their literal deathbed. And then he was actually 687 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: pretty meticulous about it. So this is from the magazine quote. 688 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: He recorded not only each patient's exact time of death, 689 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: but also his total time on the bed, as well 690 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: as any changes in weight that occurred around the moment 691 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:07,359 Speaker 1: of expiration. He even factored losses of bodily fluids like 692 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,839 Speaker 1: sweat and urine and gases like oxygen and nitrogen into 693 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 1: his calculations. Of course, you know the conclusion right like 694 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,760 Speaker 1: after the soul escaped the body, the people weighed twenty 695 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,480 Speaker 1: one grams less. Okay, I've got one about a guy 696 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,480 Speaker 1: named Hitting Brand, and he really wanted to get wealthy, 697 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 1: and he believed he had a Scrooge McDuck wade to 698 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:28,239 Speaker 1: kind of get there, and that was through p Now. 699 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:31,960 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty nine, the German alchemist apparently had stalked 700 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:36,120 Speaker 1: about fifteen hundred gallons worth of urine in his basement. 701 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 1: That is just so weird, but growth he was convinced 702 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 1: he could spin it into goal. Of course he couldn't, 703 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:46,360 Speaker 1: but his experiments did lead to one interesting discovery. After 704 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,360 Speaker 1: boiling one sample, he noticed a bit of unusual glowing liquid, 705 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,720 Speaker 1: which is how he ended up discovering phosphorus. Oh that's amazing. 706 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:56,960 Speaker 1: So you'll be happy to know that I didn't just 707 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,359 Speaker 1: look up what turkeys are attracted to. I also looked 708 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 1: into chick in preferences. And according to one study, chickens 709 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,200 Speaker 1: don't like ugly people. And basically the scientist Dr Stefano 710 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:11,719 Speaker 1: Garlanda at the Zoology Institution of Stockholm University, he was 711 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,399 Speaker 1: trying trying to understand whether physical attraction is inherited due 712 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,919 Speaker 1: to genes or learned. So he tested it the way 713 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,760 Speaker 1: any of us would. He took some I guess libidinous chickens, 714 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 1: and these birds were just hot to trot or what. Yeah, 715 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:29,440 Speaker 1: they were definitely quote excited and and uh. He showed 716 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,840 Speaker 1: them photos of people to see which ones they wanted 717 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:33,839 Speaker 1: to meet with and which ones they had picked. So 718 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: care Landa took photos of thirty five males and females 719 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 1: and these are humans, and they mashed them into these 720 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: digital picks of these very average looking people and male 721 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: birds mostly pecked photos of women. Hens mostly pecked photos 722 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,759 Speaker 1: of men. And then Geir Landa gave them this other task. Right, 723 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: He created another set of more faces, and this time 724 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: he asked college students to rate the faces on attractiveness. 725 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,799 Speaker 1: So percent of the time the chickens actually pecked the 726 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:03,799 Speaker 1: more attractive face. Oh wow, that's that's pretty interesting. Or well, 727 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 1: here's the story I learned from cracked, and it asked 728 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:09,840 Speaker 1: the important question what happens when you get leeches drunk? 729 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,360 Speaker 1: You know, we've all wondered this. The idea was that 730 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:14,720 Speaker 1: you can actually improve the rate that leeches sucked blood 731 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:17,400 Speaker 1: if you can just get them a little bit loose beforehand. 732 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 1: So researchers from Norway dipped a bunch of leeches in 733 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 1: guinness and also smeared some in garlic and others in 734 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,680 Speaker 1: sour cream. Such a weird experiment, and I'm guessing it 735 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:31,799 Speaker 1: wasn't just the leeches drinking during this experiment, So what happened, Well, 736 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: the drunk leeches are not good at sucking blood. I 737 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:37,000 Speaker 1: don't know why this would come as a surprise to anybody. 738 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:39,919 Speaker 1: They just kind of wiggled and couldn't focus. They fell 739 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 1: off the arms, which is just I wish I had 740 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,440 Speaker 1: a video of this experiment because it just sounds so weird. 741 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 1: The sour cream leeches fared better with slightly better sucking abilities, 742 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:52,200 Speaker 1: and the garlic coated leeches, like any good vampire, garlic 743 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:56,359 Speaker 1: was their kryptonite. They actually died. That's pretty amazing, and 744 00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:59,040 Speaker 1: I'm actually glad we started with rats on cocaine and 745 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 1: ended with leech is on a bender because science is 746 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,440 Speaker 1: great and drunken science might even be better. But I'm 747 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,400 Speaker 1: gonna give you today's uh today's trophy. Well, thank you, 748 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,120 Speaker 1: it's an honor. Now. I'm sure there's so many great experiments. 749 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:13,400 Speaker 1: There were many we couldn't include that we had looked into, 750 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:15,279 Speaker 1: but we'd love to hear from you. If there are 751 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,560 Speaker 1: ones that you guys want us to hear about, feel 752 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:19,480 Speaker 1: free to email us. Part Time Genius at how stuff 753 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:21,239 Speaker 1: Works dot com. You can also call us on our 754 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,640 Speaker 1: seven fact hot line that's one eight four four pt 755 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,600 Speaker 1: Genius or has always hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. 756 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:43,960 Speaker 1: But thanks so much for listening. Thanks again for listening. 757 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,239 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of How Stuff Works 758 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:48,840 Speaker 1: and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant people who do 759 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,000 Speaker 1: the important things we couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan 760 00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:54,560 Speaker 1: McNeil does the editing thing. Noel Brown made the theme 761 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,640 Speaker 1: song and does the MIXI mixy sound thing. Jerry Rowland 762 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,840 Speaker 1: does the exact producer thing. Gay Bluesiers our lead researcher, 763 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,840 Speaker 1: with support from the Research Army, including Austin Thompson, Nolan 764 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:06,200 Speaker 1: Brown and Lucas Adams and Eves Jeff Cook gets the 765 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,360 Speaker 1: show to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like 766 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:10,279 Speaker 1: what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if you 767 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: really really like what you've heard, maybe you could leave 768 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,360 Speaker 1: a good review for us. We do. We forget Jason Jason, 769 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 1: who