Science isn't always a matter of calm researchers prosaically watching test tubes do nothing, for hours. It usually is, but not always.
No, sometimes science is a matter of intense, dramatic or otherwise deadly experiments going disastrously wrong, with someone ending up dead at the end.
They've plunged to their deaths, been irradiated and suffocated, all in the name of science. Meet 10 scientists who've killed themselves during their own experiments.
14 Most Creative Science Experiments Of 2014
Do Time Travellers Google?(01 of12)
The research: Searching the Internet for evidence of time travellers. The journal: arXiv.The experiment: To develop a strategy for tracking down time travellers by trawling the internet for references to information posted before it could be known.The findings: No time traveller has ever come back from the future and left us a clue online.The conclusion: "It may be physically impossible for us to find such information as that would violate some yet-unknown law of physics. Furthermore, time travellers may not want to be found, and may be good at covering their tracks.” (credit:Universal Studios)
Is James Bond An Alcoholic?(02 of12)
The research: Were James Bond's drinks shaken because of alcohol induced tremor? The journal: British Medical Journal.The experiment: To quantify James Bond’s consumption of alcohol as detailed in the 14 novels by Ian Fleming.The findings: Bond's alcohol consumption was 92 units a week, over four times the recommended amount. His maximum daily consumption was 49.8 units. He had only 12.5 alcohol free days.The conclusion: "James Bond’s level of alcohol intake puts him at high risk of multiple alcohol related diseases and an early death... 'shaken, not stirred' could be because of alcohol induced tremor." (credit:Getty Images)
Can Dogs Talk To The Earth?(03 of12)
The research: Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth's magnetic field. The journal: Frontiers in Zoology.The experiment: 70 dogs of 37 different breeds were observed circling and taking a dump 1,893 times. The findings: Dogs preferred to poo with their bodies aligned along the North–South axis under calm magnetic field conditions. The conclusion: "It is for the first time that magnetic sensitivity was proved in dogs... Our findings open new horizons in magnetoreception research." (credit:Daly and Newton via Getty Images)
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Laptop(04 of12)
The research: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. The journal: Psychological Science.The experiment: Students at Princeton were invited to take notes of TED talks – some on paper, some on their laptop. The findings: Students who wrote in longhand and were able to review their notes before a quiz performed better on conceptual questions than those who typed notes. The conclusion: "Laptop note takers’ tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words is detrimental to learning." (credit:mediaphotos via Getty Images)
Was It All Just A Dream?(05 of12)
The research: Sleep deprivation and false memories. The journal: Psychological Science.The experiment: Sleep-deprived people were shown photographs of a crime being committed along with information that contradicted the photos. The findings: Only those who had been sleep deprived and took the memory test after staying up all night reported the false details as fact.The conclusion: "Our findings have implications for the reliability of eyewitnesses who may have experienced long periods of restricted or deprived sleep." (credit:Diane Diederich via Getty Images)
How Many Cells Are We Made Of?(06 of12)
The research: An estimation of the number of cells in the human body. The journal: Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology.The experiment: Take the volume and density of cells in everything from gallbladders and intestines to knee joints and bone marrow, then come up with estimates for the total number of each kind of cell. Simple, really. The findings: There are 37.2 trillion cells in your body. Give or take a few billion.The conclusion: “Knowing the total cell number of the human body as well as of individual organs is important from a cultural, biological, medical and comparative modelling point of view.” (credit:tentrillioncellhuman.com)
Which Storm Would Win In A Fight?(07 of12)
The research: Female hurricanes are deadlier than male hurricanes. The journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.The experiment: More than six decades of death rates from US hurricanes were studied to see if people subconsciously assumed hurricanes with feminine names would be less dangerous.The findings: The more feminine a storm name, the more fatalities it caused. In fact, changing a severe hurricane’s name from Charley to Eloise could triple its death rate.The conclusion: "This finding indicates an unfortunate and unintended consequence of the gendered naming of hurricanes." (credit:NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center/Flickr)
If Males And Females Swapped Sex Organs...(08 of12)
The research: Female penis, male vagina, and their correlated evolution in a cave insect. The journal: Current Biology.The experiment: Observing Brazilian insects have sex, which can last up to 70 hours, to see if they really are are the first example of an animal with sex-reversed genitalia.The findings: The female insects insert an "highly elaborate penis-like structure" into the male's "simple" vagina-like opening. The conclusion: "This organ may have a premating function in grasping reluctant mates or a postmating function in holding mates to ensure prolonged copulation." (credit:Kazunori Yoshizawa / Current Biology)
Are Trolls Harmless Or Plain Evil?(09 of12)
The research: Trolls just want to have fun. The journal: Personality & Individual Differences.The experiment: 1,215 people completed a Global Assessment of Internet Trolling test, in order to assess how much trolling behaviour was associated with the darker sides of personality. The findings: Trolls operate on what is known as the “Dark Tetrad”, a mixture of Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism.The conclusion: “Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun... and the internet is their playground.” (credit:Peter Dazeley via Getty Images)
The Life Expectancy Of Chocolate(10 of12)
The research: The survival time of chocolates on hospital wards. The journal: British Medical JournalThe experiment: Boxes of chocolates were covertly left at multiple locations to see how fast they get consumed.The findings: The average survival rate was 51 minutes per chocolate.The conclusion: "From our observational study, chocolate survival in a hospital ward was relatively short. Roses chocolates were preferentially consumed to Quality Street chocolates." (credit:Adam Gault via Getty Images)
The More You Spend, The More You Divorce(11 of12)
The research: "A diamond is forever" and other fairy tales: The relationship between wedding expenses and marriage duration. The journal: SSRNThe experiment: 3,000 adults were surveyed to see whether the cost of their wedding cost them their marriageThe findings: A man who spent over $2,000 on an engagement ring was 1.3 times more likely to end up in a divorce than the man who spent a frugal amount . Similarly, a woman with a $20,000 wedding budget was 3.5 times more likely to end up in a divorce than a woman who spent less than $10,000.The conclusion: "Our findings provide little evidence to support the validity of the wedding industry’s general message that connects expensive weddings with positive marital outcomes." (credit:Radius Images via Getty Images)
Yes, Facebook Messes With Our Heads(12 of12)
The research: Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. The journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.The experiment: That emotional states can be transferred to others on Facebook through manipulating the newsfeeds of 700,000 users.The findings: Exposure to emotions led people to change their own posting behaviours. (And that they hate Facebook using them as guinea pigs without their consent...)The conclusion: "Online messages influence our experience of emotions, which may affect a variety of offline behaviours." (credit:Flickr)