Weird science. And no, I’m not talking about the 1980’s film. Scientists are capable of doing just about anything in the name of science. From cross-breeding animals to bringing back the dead. There’s nothing they won’t do. Here’s a list of some of those weird, and sometimes laughable experiments.

Robert E. Cornish

He had conducted multiple experiments on dogs (all named Lazarus), whereby he asphyxiated them with ether and nitrogen. He then attempted to revive the dogs by using a seesaw-like contraption he called the teeterboard. He would then open a vein on the dog’s thigh to administer a saline solution saturated with oxygen and adrenalin. He would then administer CPR as the dog would rock on the teeterboard. A few of the dogs died. Those that survived were feeble and parts of their brain were dead. They were vacant and didn’t respond as most dogs would. What was his purpose with such experiments? To hopefully one day revive the dead (humans). He had petitioned a few state governors to supply him with the corpses of condemned criminals. He found one, Thomas McMonigle. The state of California eventually refused, for fear that if the experiment worked, they would have to release him. Eventually he managed to gain access to some corpses, but none of the experiments were successful.

Japanese Whale Experiments

What do you get when you cross-breed a whale with a cow? I haven’t the faintest clue, and I’m not sure the Japanese scientists do either. For reasons unknown, the scientists were injecting minke whale sperm into cow eggs. They also tried to create test tube whale babies. For 18 years the experiments were conducted, all with no useful outcomes. Why they chose to cross-breed a cow and a whale is beyond comprehension. What purpose could an animal like that even serve?

Spiders on Drugs

When my husband used to work at the University of Arizona, he and his colleagues used to have a poster on their door of spiders. Upon further inspection, one would notice the haphazardly shaped webs, and a caption underneath that would say, spider on cannabis, spider on alcohol, and so forth. Apparently in the 1960’s, a young Swiss pharmacologist named Dr. Witt laced spiders with various forms of drugs. While the spider was doped up, it would spin cockeyed cobwebs. Depending on the drug the spider had ingested, then the shape of the web would vary. Dr. Witt had drugged the spiders as a method for identifying drugs. Supposedly it’s easier identify what the drug is when dosing a spider, rather than chemically analyzing a drug to differentiate the closeness between common drugs.

Fluorescent Cats

Last year in Korea, 4 cats were cloned with modified genes with a fluorescent protein. Cloning of cats had been done for the past 5 years, but these cats were different. The Korean scientists used skin cells of a Turkish Angora cat. The genes were modified with a virus making them fluorescent. The genes were then transplanted into the ova; which were then placed into the womb of a donor cat. The purpose you ask? Supposedly the cat research was designed to detect genetic diseases in humans and animals. And theoretically, you could add in a coding for endangered species, producing cloned hybrids, boosting the gene pool for tigers or Iberian lynxes. While the idea of a glow-in-the dark cat seems kind of nifty, there’s no telling where this kind of experimentation might lead (i.e. genetic modifications of animals, possibly human cells).

Cat in Zero Gravity

What happens when you take a cat and toss it into zero gravity? It spins out of control while trying uncontrollably to right itself. For whatever reasons, and one can only postulate as to why, some astronauts took a cat into a vomit comet to see what the end results would be. The video circulating on the Internet shows a man tossing a cat to female scientists. The cat spins out of control while trying to claw at the side of the plane, before falling uncontrollably to the ground. It is then picked up, only to be tossed like a rag doll again. I can only assume that the logic behind this experiment would be to test the cat’s ability to right itself in free-fall. Maybe it has something to do with the cat’s balance mechanism in its inner ear. Whatever the reason, although the outcome was harmless overall to the cat, I can’t imagine how many years this cat will end up spending in therapy. “The Horrors…meow!”

The Study of Kangaroo (Farts)

Apparently kangaroos have gone green. Australia scientists have done a study on the marsupial’s ability to produce “eco-friendly”, ahem… farts. The kangaroo has a bacteria in the lining of its stomach, which means that its gas contains no methane. Methane creates a greenhouse gas more damaging than carbon dioxide. The study of kangaroo farts is trying to lead to a more climate-friendly cattle. Cows account for 14% of greenhouse emissions in Australia alone. So, by lacing cattle feed with the kangaroo bacteria, scientists want to determine if this could help reduce the greenhouse emission of cow farts. Someone light a match.