Buzz
In scientific endeavors, relying on others or animals as test subjects is often effective. However, there are times when achieving precise results necessitates personal involvement. This compilation highlights tales of self-experimentation, all undertaken in the pursuit of scientific knowledge. While some led to groundbreaking discoveries, others resulted in catastrophic outcomes.
10. The Voluntary Human Crash-Test Subject
John Paul Stapp, a seasoned Air Force officer and flight surgeon, was deeply fascinated by the impact of rapid acceleration and deceleration on the human body. While many would find the idea of pushing the body to its limits unsettling, Stapp personally demonstrated these effects to enhance aircraft safety measures. At the time, it was thought that humans could endure no more than 18 G-forces before fatal consequences. Stapp, however, shattered this belief by enduring higher G-forces than any human had previously experienced, proving the body's resilience.
Employing a powerful rocket sled decelerator called the “Gee Wiz,” Stapp demonstrated that humans could endure up to 46 times the force of gravity with the proper harness. The G-forces were increased at a staggering rate of 500 Gs per second (later, he conducted another trial reaching 38 Gs at 1,300 Gs per second). Surviving didn’t mean he escaped unscathed: he endured broken bones, fractured ribs, a detached retina, burst blood vessels, and numerous other injuries. In his studies on altitude and decompression sickness, this daring human crash-test subject stripped down a B-17 bomber and flew at 13,700 meters (45,000 ft) for 65 hours in an open, depressurized cockpit, enduring winds of 570 mph.
He found that pilots who inhaled pure oxygen for 30 minutes before takeoff could cope with extreme altitudes more effectively. He designed a sideways-facing harness, lap belt, and shoulder strap for fighter jet seats to enhance safety. His findings also contributed to the mandate for seatbelts in automobiles.
9. Performing Surgery on Himself (Appendectomy)
While most individuals trust their surgeons completely, Evan O’Neill Kane believed no one was more qualified to operate on him than himself. In an extraordinary act of self-experimentation, Kane aimed to experience surgery from the patient’s perspective to gain deeper insight into their experience. He sought to validate the use of local anesthesia for patients unsuitable for general anesthesia and, in a remarkable display of dedication, decided to test his theory on himself.
Although Kane had previously performed self-surgeries, such as amputating one of his fingers, this procedure was unprecedented. Ether was the commonly used general anesthetic at the time, but Kane considered it too risky and wanted to explore the effects of Novocain as a local anesthetic. After administering Novocain to himself, Kane began removing his appendix using mirrors. The surgery required a much larger incision than modern procedures, increasing the danger. Despite the risks, the 60-year-old, who had performed this operation over 4,000 times on others, successfully completed it. He was back on his feet the next day. The surgery lasted just 30 minutes, with the only alarming moment being when his intestine protruded due to his sitting position.
A decade later, at 70, Kane also performed a hernia repair on himself. This procedure was particularly perilous due to the proximity of the incisions to his femoral artery. Sadly, other health issues arose, and a severe case of pneumonia led to his death within months.
8. The Human Billy Goat
Instead of relying on exercise or traditional diets, Fredrick Hoelzel embarked on an extreme weight-loss regimen by consuming non-caloric substances. However, these items could hardly be considered food. Hoelzel ingested corncobs, cork, feathers, sawdust, asbestos, rayon, and banana stems to shed weight during his awkward teenage years. His daily intake often included his preferred “meal,” surgical cotton. As a researcher at the University of Chicago, Hoelzel used his unusual diet to study how quickly various objects passed through his digestive system. Small steel and silver items took eight hours, while gold pellets required 22 days. Glass beads passed through in 40 hours, and a piece of twine was the fastest, taking only 1.5 hours. His method was effective for weight loss but left him pale and malnourished. This is not a diet to replicate at home.
7. Experimenting with the Testes
For most men, the idea of stacking weights on their testicles for a scientific experiment would seem excessively extreme. However, Hebert Woollard and Edward Carmichael eagerly embraced the opportunity. Although it’s unclear which scientist volunteered their testicles (odd, since one would likely want credit for enduring such pain for science), they were investigating the phenomenon of referred pain. Referred pain occurs when pain is felt in a different part of the body than the actual source of injury. While many organs could have been studied, Carmichael and Woollard chose the testicles for their accessibility (apparently, neither was overly concerned about future parenthood).
One man lay on a table while the other added weights. Their observations were as clinical as expected, with descriptions like “mild discomfort in the right groin” or “intense testicular pain on the right side at 650 grams.” They demonstrated that testicular trauma causes referred pain, which radiated to their backs once the weight reached 0.9 kilograms (2.0 lb). They further experimented by numbing specific areas of the testicles to observe pain responses. Unsurprisingly, their findings on referred pain from testicular injury remain unverified, as no other scientists have been willing to replicate their study.
6. The Sleep Researcher
Nathaniel Kleitman, recognized as the world’s first sleep researcher, dedicated his work to understanding sleep, a process that occupies a third of human life but was poorly understood in his era. Through his self-experiments, Kleitman uncovered critical insights into REM cycles, Circadian rhythms, and the impacts of sleep deprivation. In one notable experiment, he stayed awake for 115 hours straight to study how lack of sleep affects mental function. During this time, he experienced hallucinations, including an episode where he shouted, “It is because they are against the system,” during an imagined debate about labor unions.
In another groundbreaking study, Kleitman and his assistant investigated whether humans possess an innate biological clock. Before this, it was unclear if the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle was flexible or fixed. To explore this, they spent 32 days in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave, an ideal location due to its absence of natural light, stable temperature, and lack of environmental cues. While his assistant adapted to a 28-hour cycle within a week, Kleitman struggled to adjust. He also conducted research on submarines, analyzing sailors’ sleep patterns and devising methods to enhance their efficiency by altering their sleep schedules.
5. The Original Hippy
Albert Hofmann undoubtedly holds the title for the most surreal self-experiment. His journey began while researching medical applications for ergot, a fungus often linked to historical episodes of mass hysteria, such as the Pont-Saint-Esprit incident and the Salem Witch Trials. During his work, he discovered lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. His first encounter with an acid trip was accidental, occurring when he accidentally absorbed some of the chemical through his fingertips.
He described the experience as being marked by “a notable restlessness accompanied by mild dizziness. At home, I lay down and entered a peculiar, not unpleasant state of intoxication, filled with a highly stimulated imagination... I was overwhelmed by a continuous flow of fantastical images, extraordinary shapes, and a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors.”
In 1943, Hofmann’s most famous and deliberate experiment, now celebrated as “Bicycle Day,” involved taking what he believed to be a modest dose of 250 micrograms of LSD to study its effects. During his bicycle ride home from the lab, he experienced intense and vivid hallucinations. Hofmann went on to develop numerous other psychedelic substances, contributing to the cultural phenomenon of the hippie era. Despite consuming LSD and other psychedelics hundreds of times, Hofmann lived a long life, passing away in 2008 at the age of 102.
4. Giovanni Grassi
Giovanni Grassi, an Italian physician with a focus on parasitology and zoology, took his research to an extreme level. During an autopsy of a man whose intestines were overwhelmed with roundworms, Grassi decided to consume some of the eggs to demonstrate the parasite’s life cycle and transmission. He extracted the eggs from the deceased, preserving them in a solution to keep them viable.
To ensure he wasn’t already infected, Grassi meticulously examined his stool under a microscope for nearly a year. Once confirmed free of roundworms, he ingested the eggs from the corpse. Within a month, he began experiencing discomfort as the roundworms developed, and he observed eggs in his stool. He successfully eradicated the parasites using herbal medicine. This experiment sparked a trend, with students and professors at various universities consuming eggs to grow worms up to 1.8 meters (6.0 ft) long inside themselves. Though not a project many would choose, Grassi is credited with proving that roundworms are transmitted through human fecal matter.
3. Joseph Barcroft’s Gas Experiment
After graduating from Cambridge, Joseph Barcroft focused his research on blood oxygenation. To advance his studies, he conducted extreme self-experiments that tested his physical and mental endurance. In one notable experiment, he locked himself in a chamber filled with hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid), a lethal gas used in WWI chemical warfare, for 10 minutes. While a dog accompanying him died after just 95 seconds, Barcroft endured the full duration, showcasing his resilience.
In a separate experiment, Barcroft confined himself to a low-oxygen glass chamber to determine the minimal oxygen level required for human survival. He spent almost a week at an altitude equivalent to 4,900 meters (16,000 feet), which caused his entire body to turn blue. In his final and most extreme self-experiment, Barcroft entered a refrigerated chamber naked to study the impact of freezing temperatures on mental function. He discovered that near-lethal hypothermia can create a sensation of warmth instead of cold. Although he could exit the chamber at will, he remained until losing consciousness, requiring a research assistant to intervene.
2. This Will Only Hurt A Little
August Bier, a German surgeon, pioneered the use of spinal anesthesia in surgery. This method was particularly beneficial for patients who couldn't tolerate the harsh side effects of general anesthesia. At the time, spinal anesthesia involved injecting cocaine into the spinal cord, which numbed pain while keeping the patient awake. After successfully performing six surgeries using this technique, Bier decided to experience it himself.
After the surgeries, patients reported side effects like nausea, vomiting, severe headaches, and pain in the legs and back. Bier asked his assistant, Augustus Hildebrandt, to administer the anesthesia to him. However, during the procedure, the syringe didn't fit properly, causing most of the cerebrospinal fluid to leak and leaving a significant hole in Bier's spine. Despite this setback, they tried the procedure on Hildebrandt shortly after. The anesthesia worked successfully, leaving Hildebrandt unable to feel or move his legs. In what seemed like a form of retaliation, Bier tested Hildebrandt's numbness by kicking his shins, hitting him with an iron hammer, burning him with cigars, pulling his pubic hair, and even crushing his testicles.
Remarkably, Hildebrandt felt no pain, confirming the experiment's success. As the anesthetic's effects diminished, both men suffered from severe headaches and other symptoms similar to those reported by their patients. Undeterred, they celebrated their groundbreaking discovery of a new and effective sedation method, which quickly gained popularity in the medical field, by indulging in heavy drinking.
1. The Real Spider-Man
Allan Blair, often referred to as the 'Real Spider-Man,' is renowned for his research and self-experiments in entomology and toxicology. Although another entomologist had conducted a similar experiment 12 years prior, Blair was determined to experience the effects of a black widow bite firsthand. To ensure the spider was sufficiently agitated, Blair and his assistants starved the female black widow for two weeks before the experiment.
He allowed the female black widow to bite him for 10 seconds, ensuring the full transfer of venom. Blair described the bite as feeling like a needle prick, with the burning sensation intensifying over time. Although the bite mark was nearly invisible, the surrounding area turned pale, and his entire finger became red. The pain spread, causing numbness in his hand. As the venom moved through his lymphatic system, he experienced pain in his lymph nodes and other parts of his body. The swelling worsened, prompting his hospitalization. The pain impaired his speech and breathing, eventually sending him into shock.
To alleviate the excruciating pain that persisted for three days, Blair was administered morphine. His ordeal provided doctors with a comprehensive list of symptoms commonly experienced by black widow bite victims, making diagnosis more straightforward. Additionally, his experience offered valuable insights into how the spider's venom impacts the human body. Blair's suffering also dispelled skepticism about the dangers of black widow bites. Although he fully recovered, he declined to undergo a second bite to confirm the findings. Regrettably, he did not exhibit any of the symptoms famously associated with Peter Parker's encounter with a radioactive spider.
