People are by nature very curious and constantly ask questions about everything that surrounds them. Scientific research and discoveries are considered one of the most worthy areas. Over the past 150 years, humanity has made a giant leap in development thanks to numerous experiences. On the one hand, one can applaud the outstanding results of scientific experiments, and on the other, experiments are being conducted that cause disapproval, since the results are obtained through unethical and questionable methods.
20. Black Widow spider bite
Professor of the University of Alabama, Allan Blair, in the early 20th century, allowed a female "Black Widow" to bite him. The fact is that at that time in scientific circles there was debate about the fact that small arachnids are not poisonous to humans. And Blair decided to refute this statement. He crushed the spider and held her for 10 seconds so that she injected the maximum amount of poison. Then the professor began to write down what was happening to him and how he felt. Pain, dizziness, and a drop in blood pressure drove him to the hospital, where symptoms such as sweating, vomiting and diarrhea were added. As a result of the experiment, scientists agreed that a poisonous spider is dangerous to humans, regardless of size.
19. The elephant and drugs
In the 1960s, if everyone did not use drugs, then they knew about them well. In 1962, a group of Oklahoma City researchers wanted to study the effect the drug LSD could have on an adult elephant, and whether it would be very aggressive. The animal was injected and injected with 297 mg of the drug LSD, which is 3,000 times the human dose. A few minutes later, the large animal fell and died. Scientists began to argue about the cause of death of the elephant: whether he died from an overdose or from the drug itself. In the 1980s, the experiment was repeated by adding the drug to drinking water. Not a single animal died, but they were very passive and uttered strange sounds through their trunk.
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18. Experiments with overloads
During the 40-50s of the 20th century, the military was interested in overload issues. It was not known what maximum load a person can carry during an ejection from an aircraft. It was believed that the maximum rate - 18. Colonel John Step decided to personally participate in an experiment on a rocket launcher, which quickly picks up speed and stops abruptly. In 1954, Step at a speed of over 1000 km / h withstood a load of 46, while the subject survived bleeding from the eyes, loss of vision and blisters on the body. Through this experiment, aeronautical engineers corrected aircraft designs and improved safety for pilots.
17. Attempting to contract malaria
In the early 19th century, Stubbins Firff, who noticed that the number of malaria cases declined in winter, wanted to prove that the disease is not contagious, but is the result of excessive food intake, in conditions of heat and noise. He drank the vomit of the patient for malaria, smeared them on his eyes and body, and injected the patient's saliva and urine into the blood, but to no avail. The point is, to get infected, the virus must be directly injected into the bloodstream. Later, a Cuban researcher proved that only mosquitoes can be the source of infection.
16. Endovascular surgery
Today, insertion of a catheter into the heart is done for a number of reasons, including the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and dysfunction. In 1929, a German doctor, Werner Forssmann, argued that this is the best way to administer drugs and monitor. While the doctors were arguing, under anesthesia, he inserted a 60 cm catheter into a vein in his arm and entered the heart muscle. He then underwent an x-ray to prove that the catheter was in his heart. The head physician was still against it, but over time, the attitude towards this method changed.
Werner Forssman
15. Alive dog head
At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists and doctors were interested in the question of how long a head can live after being cut off. In the late 1920s, Soviet scientist Sergei Bryukhonenko demonstrated a similar experiment using the severed head of a dog, which was connected to a life support apparatus. The experiment was recorded on video. The head reacted to light, taste, and sound. The doctor managed to feed his head with a piece of cheese, which was immediately swallowed and put into a special tube.
14. Indecent proposal
What would you do if a nice young man or woman sat down with you and offered to sleep with him? This question was researched in 1978 at Florida State University. Russell Clarke, a university psychologist, asked students to take part in an experiment to find out which gender would respond more positively to a stranger's suggestion. Each time the same phrases were pronounced: “I saw you on the territory of the university town. I liked you very much. You are very pretty. Would you like to spend the night with me today? As a result, 75% of positive reactions were expressed by men, and not a single girl agreed.
13. Humanizing chimpanzees
There are many cases in the world when people from birth lived among animals in the wild. In 1931, scientists Luella and Winthrop Kellogg decided to see what would happen to the monkey if it was born in a human family. Scientists brought home a seven-month-old chimpanzee, Gua, who was raised with 10-month-old son Donald. After a few months, both the chimpanzee and the child were tested for their ability to use objects, recognize and speak. In many respects, Gua surpassed Donald in development, but only he did not succeed in speech, which became the main criterion for a person's child to be better developed. After 9 months of the experiment, it was discontinued as Donald began to copy the chimpanzee, and especially his sounds and communication style. Gua died in 1933. Less than a year before death, chimpanzees were separated from their families.
12. Deliberately obtained stomach ulcer
For many years, it was believed that stomach ulcers were caused by stress. Barry Marshall, an Australian doctor, did not believe this statement and decided to find out the real reason. In the early 1980s, Marshall collaborated with Robin Warren, who believed that ulcers were caused by bacteria. The scientists' ideas were not accepted by specialists in gastroenterology. Since the doctors could not experiment on humans, they decided to infect themselves with bacteria. A few days later, Marshall showed symptoms of an ulcer, which became experimental confirmation of their theory.
Barry Marshall
11. Two-headed dog
Everyone knows the saying: "One head is good, and two is better." In the 1950s, Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov decided to take this statement to a new level. He was a pioneer in transplantation and conducted many animal experiments on heart and lung transplants. After he sewed on one dog and the head of another, the world considered him crazy. Both heads were alive, drinking water from a bowl. Now this dog is an exhibit of the Riga Museum in Latvia.
10. Monkey head transplant
In order to keep up with the experimenters of the USSR, a more radical experiment was carried out in the USA. In 1970, neurosurgeon Robert White tried to transplant a monkey's head. When the monkeys regained consciousness, they could see, hear, recognize smell and taste, although they were paralyzed and could only lie, opening and closing their mouth and eyes. After a few years, the monkeys died.
9. Self-hanging Minovichi
In the early 20th century in Bucharest, Romania, forensic doctor Nicolae Minovici took up the study of death by hanging. He wanted to know what happened to people during the mentioned process. To this end, the doctor made several attempts at self-hanging with the help of assistants. During one of the attempts, he hung for 25 seconds. The results of the experiment were published, but in 1941 the doctor died of diseases of the vocal cords.
8. Brainwashing from McGill
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Dr. Ewen Cameron worked at the McGill Institute and at the same time for the CIA. He was involved in the MKUltra project, a human mind control project. Cameron conducted experiments on people who suffered from depression and feelings of fear. For years, patients were given LSD, injected into a coma, applied electrotherapy and influenced the subconscious. In the 60s, the CIA stopped experiments and stopped the Cameron project, as patients had serious side effects, including amnesia, hallucinations.
Ewen Cameron
7. Vision of the cat
Man has always been interested in how animals see the world. Dr. Young Dan of the University of California at Berkeley decided she was researching how cats see. In 1999, together with researchers Garett Stanley and Fei Li, the doctor implanted electrodes in the animal's brain to receive signals that would be sent from the animal's eyes. The signals were collected and displayed on the monitor. The decoded signals showed a vague image that an animal is looking at - whether it be a person or a tree.
6. Impact of electric current on a human corpse
In the late 18th century, scientists knew that currents could stimulate muscle activity. In 1803, the Italian scientist Giovanni Aldini decided to tour Europe and demonstrate how electricity would make the limbs of dead bodies twitch. In London, Aldini used the body of the executed George Foster for this experiment. Scientists connected electrodes to the body and, using a current, demonstrated the experiment to the public. In one experiment, a corpse's hand rose and clenched a fist. Then the face twitched, the eye opened. When the current increased, the dead body twisted, jerking its legs and frightening the audience, who thought that the corpse had come to life.
5. Remote controlled animals
Jose Delgado is a Spanish-born scientist who studied the brain and its responses to electrical stimulation. At one time, he implanted a transmitter into the brain of patients, which stimulated individual parts of the brain. With its help, the scientist could not only influence human emotions, but also physical reactions. He once implanted a transmitter in a bull's brain. The video shows how Delgado can use the button to stop the animal during the attack. Chimpanzees were also involved in a similar experiment.
4. The Stanford Prison Experiment
In 1971, at Stanford University, 24 male subjects with no experience in incarceration and in good health voluntarily became prisoners and warders in a makeshift prison in the building of the Institute of Psychology. All participants in the experiment got used to images alien to them. Those who played the role of guards applied psychological punishment to prisoners who were called only by numbers, forced them to use a bucket while washing, offering food of better quality to those who behaved better, and placed them in punishment cells. The prisoners gradually began to refuse food in protest, barricaded doors, showing solidarity with other prisoners. After 6 days, the experiment was stopped when the guards began to show sadism and release those prisoners who were helping the guards.
3. "Treatment" of homosexuality
In 1954, researchers at McGill University examined the part of the brain that is responsible for sexual pleasure. In 1970, Robert Heath of Tulane University suggested that targeting this area would help cure homosexuality. He found a homosexual who wanted to be cured and inserted electrodes into his brain for further action. After a series of manipulations, Heath approached the final stage in the experiment, which involved the temptation of the patient with a prostitute in order to consolidate the effect. Is the homosexual healed? The researcher stated that the patient returned to homosexual relationships, although he sometimes entered into relationships with women. The experiment was partially successful, but Heath did not resume it.
2. Study of Tuskegee's syphilis
Between 1932 and 1972, the US Public Health Service conducted a study of the effect of syphilis in 600 men of African descent, 399 of whom were ill. All men received the same treatment, they were fed the same food, they were all insured, but they were never told that they were sick, and made sure that the test subjects did not go to other doctors for treatment. In addition to penicillin, ineffective drugs, aspirin, and painful spinal punctures were used. And we watched how the syphilis virus affects African Americans and white people. By the end of the experiment, 28 men died from not receiving adequate treatment for the disease, 100 patients died from complications, 40 wives were infected with syphilis, 19 children were born with syphilis.
1. Experiments with obedience
Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram demonstrated an experiment in 1961 that found a monster in every human being. He became interested in this problem, studying the Holocaust, and whether the Germans were by nature evil people or following orders. In his experiment, Milgram tried to clarify the question: how much suffering are ordinary people willing to inflict on other, completely innocent people, if such infliction of pain is part of their work duties. Volunteers had to shock a person invisible to them every time for every wrong answer. The students did not know that the invisible person was an actor, and that no one shocked him. With each subsequent incorrect answer, the current power increased. 65% of the volunteers would go on with the experiment if left unchecked. Most of us are capable of harming others.
