27 Crucial (or Completely Random) Scientific Experiments From History
That’s enough STEM for today
![27 Crucial (or Completely Random) Scientific Experiments From History](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/4/2/1028342_320x180.jpg)
Once you get past all the studying, and math, and ethical conundrums, not to mention the blood and guts, science seems pretty fun!
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![CRACKED UNETHICALLY HARVESTING HENRIETTA LACKS' CELLS ENABLED LIFE-SAVING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES Lacks' cervical cancer cells, known as HeLa, were harvested without her consent and have since been used to make many scientific advancements, such as polio and COVID-19 vaccines, cancer research, and sequencing the human genome.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/8/1028448.jpg)
![CRACKED SHOCKINGLY OBEDIENT: 65% SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY Stanley Milgram's experiment demonstrated the power of authority, with 65% of participants willing to administer high-voltage electric shocks, despite feeling negative emotions. Participants who challenged the authority were in the minority, showing that obedience can override personal codes of conduct.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/9/1028449.jpg)
![CRACKED COLLEGE STUDENTS TRICKED INTO FAKE PRISON (FOR... REASONS) Nine college students were taken to a fake prison in the Stanford University psychology department as part of the Stanford Prison Experiment, a controversial study in social psychology. The experiment has been used to explain events such as police brutality, but its lessons are not clear-cut due to the heavily manipulated environment and predetermined roles of the participants.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/1/1028441.jpg)
![CRACKED WENTWORTH'S LUMBAR PUNCTURE ON A TODDLER Dr. Arthur Wentworth performed the first lumbar puncture in 1895 on a two-year-old with tuberculous meningitis, but the experience was harrowing as the child became restless and her pulse and respiration rose, causing Wentworth to fear for her life.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/5/1028445.jpg)
![CRACKED FLU VACCINE TESTED ON THOUSANDS OF UNCONSENTING PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS In 1942, medical scientists tested a new flu vaccine on 8,000 psychiatric patients without their consent, and in 1943, 200 male patients were given either the vaccine or a placebo and then exposed to the flu virus to test its effectiveness.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/0/1028440.jpg)
![CRACKED INMATES INFECTED WITH MALARIA, SUBJECTED TO EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS. In the Stateville Penitentiary research project, inmates were infected with malaria and treated with experimental drugs. Research and punishment were completely interpenetrating, and mutually reinforcing.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/7/1028447.jpg)
![CRACKED COLONIALISM, DECEIT, AND BIRTH CONTROL: THE PILL TRIALS OF 1956 John Rock and Gregory Pincus conducted human trials for the Pill in Puerto Rico, taking advantage of the island's population density, lack of anti-birth control laws, and existing network of birth control clinics. The trials were successful in demonstrating the Pill's effectiveness, but have since been accused of deceit, colonialism and exploitation of poor women of color.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/3/1028443.jpg)
![CRACKED MCMXVI CANCER RESEARCH FUNDED BY DAVID KOCH HNG In 1991, billionaire and gigantic piece of shit David Koch survived a plane crash and was later diagnosed with prostate cancer, inspiring him to turn to philanthropy. Не, of all people, was able to convince his alma mater, MIT, to build a center to research prostate cancer.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/2/1028442.jpg)
![CRACKED HEPATITIS INJECTED INTO DISABLED CHILDREN The Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, New York, conducted a study from 1956 to 1970 in which cognitively disabled children were intentionally given hepatitis in order to track the development of the virus and test the effectiveness of gamma globulin injections.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/6/1028446.jpg)
![CRACKED ROBERTS BARTHOLOW'S GROUNDBREAKING EXPERIMENT Bartholow's experiment on Mary Rafferty is widely cited as the first demonstration of motor excitability of the human cerebral cortex, but there are still many questions and details left unanswered about the experiment.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/4/4/1028444.jpg)
![CRACKED PIONEERING GYNECOLOGICAL TECHNIQUE PERFECTED USING SLAVE WOMEN EXPERIMENTATION J. Marion Sims, originally celebrated as the father of gynecology, has become a controversial figure due to his use of slave women as guinea pigs to perfect his technique for repairing vesico-vaginal fistulas.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/6/1028436.jpg)
![CRACKED WORLD ROCKED BY GENETIC MODIFICATION OF HUMANS Chinese scientist Не Jiankui shocked the world by announcing the successful use of gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to modify the DNA of two embryos before birth, creating the world's first genetically modified humans, sparking international outcry and raising serious ethical questions.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/7/1028437.jpg)
![CRACKED INFANT MONKEYS DENIED SOCIAL INTERACTION Harry Harlow's research on primates revolutionized our understanding of the importance of social relationships in early development, demonstrating the devastating effects of social isolation on infant monkeys through their disturbed behavior and refusal to interact with peers.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/8/1028438.jpg)
![CRACKED HOLMESBURG PRISON'S SHOCKING EXPERIMENTS The Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia was the site of controversial medical testing between 1951 and 1974, with inmates being used as test subjects in exchange for small stipends. The experiments focused on the effects of various additives on human skin, and sparked public outcry and legal action in the late 1990s.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/5/1028435.jpg)
![CRACKED LITTLE ALBERT WAS CONDITIONED TO FEAR ANIMALS (PERMANENTLY) John Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted a study on a 9-month-old baby, Little Albert, in which they conditioned him to fear animals and furry objects through a loud noise. Watson never revealed Albert's identity, or de-conditioned him.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/9/1028439.jpg)
![Scientists resurrected a nearly 42,000- year-old worm. Russian and Princeton University scientists say they've thawed and revived two ancient nematodes from the Pleistocene Epoch that were recovered from the Siberian permafrost. The younger is a mere 32,000 years old, while the elder is 41,700 (but honestly doesn't look a day over 40,000). We cannot confirm whether the team is now missing one worm and one husky. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/3/1028433.jpg)
![Scientists spawned tadpoles with eyes on their tails. Tufts University researchers wondered what would happen if they transplanted a tadpole's eyeball from its head to, say, its ass. They found that with the help of a neurotransmitter drug triggering new nerve growth, the tail-eye could actually see. Dr. Alphonse Mephesto of Colorado has expressed his complete support. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/4/1028424.jpg)
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![GRACKED COM Scientists created chickens with control dinosaur faces. In 2015, researchers from Yale and Harvard, possibly with funding from John Hammond, fiddled with the chicken genome until they created chicks with velociraptor snouts experimental instead of beaks. When faced with ethical concerns of the abomination before God variety, the lead author of the study assured everyone that none of the fetuses were allowed to hatch. alligator But he then added that if they had, they would have survived and done just fine.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/3/1/1028431.jpg)
![Scientists created remote-controlled (living) beetles. In the never-ending quest to humiliate nature, scientists from UC Berkeley and Nanyang Technological University have turned living beetles into their slaves. By connecting electrodes to the insects' brains, legs, and flight muscles, the researchers can remotely control these biobots for use in surveillance or to search disaster zones for survivors. The beetles emerge from the ordeal completely unharmed, but embarrassed. Probably. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/6/1028426.jpg)
![Scientists turned mice (and organs) transparent. This mouse might look like an exotic street delicacy, but it's heralding a revolutionary medical technology: 3D-printed organs for transplants. German researchers have developed a technique to remove pigment and fat from organic tissues like those in mice- and more importantly, humans. The resulting transparent organs can provide blueprints for a stem-cell-loaded biological 3D printer. And perhaps it can also be infused with flavors like BBQ and ranch. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/8/1028428.jpg)
![A Soviet biologist tried to create Ilya Ivanov a humanzee. What do you get when you cross a human with a chimpanzee? The answer is obviously an abomination, but Soviet biologist Ilya Ivanov decided to proceed with such an experiment anyway. Some claim one specimen was successfully created, but no confirmation exists. Surely somewhere, Charlton Heston is bellowing at the hubris of man. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/3/1028423.jpg)
![Scientists built tiny 3D goggles for praying mantises. This mantis isn't just fashionable with its slick little goggles-it's a boon to science. Mantises are the only known invertebrates with 3D vision, and can accurately strike moving prey even when the image beamed to each eye (via the goggles) is different. This mantis-vision research could help future worker robots navigate the world. Or more effectively murder enemies of the hive mind. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/7/1028427.jpg)
![Sergei Brukhonenko tried to keep severed animal heads alive. Brukhonenko arguably VENOUS helped pave the way for PUMP modern heart and lung machines. Не advanced medical science in a ARTERIAL PUMP profound way, and probably saved the lives of countless human beings. Yet history will always remember him as that guy who cut the heads off dogs to see if he could keep them alive. As it turned out, no. Не could not. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/4/2/9/1028429.jpg)