crazy science experiments

#1: Elephants on Acid

#2: The Obedience Experiment

#3: Demikhov’s Two-Headed Dogs

#4: The Initiation of Heterosexual Behavior in a Homosexual Male

#5: The Isolated Head of a Dog

#6: Human-Ape Hybrid

#7: The Stanford Prison Experiment

#8: Facial expressions while decapitating a rat

#9: The Vomit-Drinking Doctor

#10: Beneficial Brainwashing

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20 Awesome Science Experiments You Can Do Right Now At Home

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Morenike Adebayo

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We can all agree that science is awesome. And you can bring that awesomeness into your very own home with these 20 safe DIY experiments you can do right now with ordinary household items.

1. Make Objects Seemingly Disappear Refraction is when light changes direction and speed as it passes from one object to another. Only visible objects reflect light. When two materials with similar reflective properties come into contact, light will pass through both materials at the same speed, rendering the other material invisible. Check out this video from BritLab  on how to turn glass invisible using vegetable oil and pyrex glass.

2. Freeze Water Instantly When purified water is cooled to just below freezing point, a quick nudge or an icecube placed in it is all it takes for the water to instantly freeze. You can finally have the power of Frozone from The Incredibles on a very small scale! Check out the video on this "cool" experiment. 

3. Create Oobleck And Make It Dance To The Music Named after a sticky substance in a children’s book by Dr Seuss , Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means it can behave as both a solid and a liquid. And when placed on a sound source, the vibrations causes the mixture to gloopily dance. Check out these instructions from Housing A Forest  on how to make this groovy fluid funk out in every way.

4. Create Your Own Hybrid Rocket Engine With a combination of a solid fuel source and a liquid oxidizer, hybrid rocket engines can propel themselves. And on a small scale, you can create your own hybrid rocket engine, using pasta, mouthwash and yeast. Sadly, it won’t propel much, but who said rocket science ain’t easy? Check out this video from NightHawkInLight on how to make this mini engine.

5. Create "Magic Mud" Another non-Newtonian fluid here, this time from the humble potato. "Magic Mud" is actually starch found in potatoes. It’ll remain hard when handled but leave it alone and it turns into a liquid. Make your own “Magic Mud” with this video.

6. Command The Skies And Create A Cloud In A Bottle Not quite a storm in a teacup, but it is a cloud in a bottle. Clouds up in the sky are formed when water vapor cools and condenses into visible water droplets. Create your own cloud in a bottle using a few household items with these wikiHow instructions .

7. Create An Underwater Magical World First synthesized by Adolf van Baeyer in 1871, fluorescein is a non-toxic powder found in highlighter pens, and used by NASA to find shuttles that land in the sea. Create an underwater magical world with this video from NightHawkInLight .

9. Make Your Own Lava Lamp Inside a lava lamp are colored bubbles of wax suspended in a clear or colorless liquid, which changes density when warmed by a heating element at the base, allowing them to rise and fall hypnotically. Create your own lava lamp with these video instructions.

10. Create Magnetic Fluid A ferrofluid is a liquid that contains nanoscale particles of metal, which can become magnetized. And with oil, toner and a magnet , you can create your own ferrofluid and harness the power of magnetism! 

12. Make Waterproof Sand A hydrophobic substance is one that repels water. When sand is combined with a water-resistant chemical, it becomes hydrophobic. So when it comes into contact with water, the sand will remain dry and reusable. Make your own waterproof sand with this video .

13. Make Elephant's Toothpaste Elephant’s toothpaste is a steaming foamy substance created by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which sort of resembles giant-sized toothpaste. Make your own elephant’s toothpaste with these instructions.

14. Make Crystal Bubbles When the temperature falls below 0 o C (32 o F), it’s possible to freeze bubbles into crystals. No instructions needed here, just some bubble mix and chilly weather.

15. Make Moving Liquid Art Mixing dish soap and milk together causes the surface tension of the milk to break down. Throw in different food colorings and create this trippy chemical reaction.

16. Create Colourful Carnations Flowers absorb water through their stems, and if that water has food coloring in it, the flowers will also absorb that color. Create some wonderfully colored flowers with these wikiHow instructions .

17. "Magically" Turn Water Into Wine Turn water into wine with this  video  by experimenter Dave Hax . Because water has a higher density than wine, they can switch places. Amaze your friends with this fun science trick.

18. Release The Energy In Candy (Without Eating It) Dropping a gummy bear into a test tube with potassium chlorate releases the chemical energy inside in an intense chemical reaction. That’s exactly what's happening when you eat candy, kids.

19. Make Water "Mysteriously" Disappear Sodium polyacrylate is a super-absorbent polymer, capable of absorbing up to 300 times its own weight in water. Found in disposable diapers, you can make water disappear in seconds with this video .

20. Create A Rainbow In A Jar Different liquids have different masses and different densities. For example, oil is less dense than water and will float on top of its surface. By combining liquids of different densities and adding food coloring, you can make an entire rainbow in a jar with this video .

There you have it – 20 experiments for you to explore the incredible world of science!

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10 of the weirdest experiments of 2021

Brains grown in petri dishes, self-replicating zombies and the invention of otherworldly time crystals.

Every year, scientists undertake some truly baffling experiments, and 2021 was no exception. From growing mini-brains with their own eyes in petri dishes to reanimating 24,000-year-old self-replicating zombies from the Siberian permafrost, here are the absolute weirdest scientific experiments of the year.

Growing miniature human brains with their own eyes

In August, a group of scientists made news that was equal parts fascinating and horrifying when they announced they had successfully lab-grown a tiny human brain with its own pair of eyes. They made the Cronenberg-esque mini brain, called an organoid, by transforming stem cells into neural tissue, then stimulating the cells with chemical signals to form tiny rudimentary "optic cups" filled with light-sensitive cells. 

Thankfully for our collective sanity and for the mini-brains themselves, the tiny organoids don't have nearly enough neural density to be conscious — so they won't be asking themselves anytime soon how they awakened as a lost pair of eyes sliding around a petri dish. They are, however, incredibly useful constructs for studying brain development and potentially creating cures for retinal disorders that cause blindness — something that the researchers want to study. 

Read more: Lab-made mini brains grow their own sets of 'eyes'

Finding that crows understand the concept of zero

If the Cronenburg body-horror of the last entry didn't move you, this year also saw scientists reveal an experiment more in line with Hitchcock's classic horror film "The Birds" — proving that crows were smart enough to understand the concept of zero. The concept of zero, ostensibly developed by human societies somewhere in the fifth century A.D., requires abstract thinking. So it came as quite a surprise when a June paper in The Journal of Neuroscience revealed that crows not only picked zero as distinct from other numbers, but also associated it more readily with the number one than with higher numbers.

Scans of the birds' brain activity during the experiments showed that crows have specially tuned neurons for understanding the null number, but what they use those brain cells for (besides potentially plotting to take over the world, of course) is a mystery. The scientists were amazed that both human and crow brains can compute zero even though we shared our last common ancestor with birds well before the extinction of the dinosaurs; this shows that evolution takes multiple routes to create brains with the same higher-level functions.

Read more: Crows understand the 'concept of zero' (despite their bird brains)

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Figuring out why brazil nuts rise to the top of the bag

April saw researchers finally finding the answer to one of humanity's most pressing questions: Why do Brazil nuts rise to the top of the bag? The nutty mystery was resolved by shaking a mixture of peanuts and Brazil nuts, with the Brazil nuts placed at the bottom, and taking a 3D X-ray scan of the bag after each shake. It turned out that successive shakes eventually moved the larger nuts into a vertical orientation, after which every shake forced them upwards. The scientists believe their research could help engineers design better ways to prevent size segregation from occurring in other mixtures — something that, while vitally important for bags of nuts, could have essential applications in medicine and construction. 

Read more: 'Brazil nut puzzle' cracked by researchers

Creating a mutant "daddy shortlegs"

By switching off certain genes in the daddy longlegs , scientists created a stunted "daddy shortlegs" version — but why? By shortening the famous arachnid's legs, the researchers hoped to reveal the secrets behind its body plan as well as its unique method of locomotion: walking with three pairs of legs and waving the longest pair about to feel its way around. 

After the gene tweak, the legs of the stunted daddy shortlegs had not only changed in size, but also in shape; they morphed into short food-manipulating appendages called pedipalps. This offered the scientists a glimpse back in time at the kinds of creatures that daddy longlegs could have evolved from 400 million years ago. And this isn't the last mutant arachnid the scientists want to create; they also plan to mutate spider fangs to glean similar insights into their evolution.

Read more: Mutant 'daddy shortlegs' created in a lab

Turning water into a shiny golden metal

From early antiquity all the way to the 17th century, alchemists were obsessed with the philosopher's stone: a mythical substance with the power to transmute lead into gold . In July, scientists reported an experiment that looked a little like the fabled process: for just a few fleeting seconds, they were able to transform water into a shiny, golden metal. The researchers achieved this by mixing the water with sodium and potassium — metals which donate their extra electrons to the water, and therefore make the water's electrons wander freely, rendering it metallic. The briefly metallic water they created could provide scientists with some key insights into the highly-pressurized hearts of planets, where water could be squished so intensely that this process occurs naturally.

Read more: Scientists transform water into shiny, golden metal

Inventing an otherworldly time crystal

In July, researchers working with Google revealed that they had created a time crystal inside the heart of the tech giant's quantum computer, Sycamore. The crystal was a completely new phase of matter that the researchers claimed was able to evade the second law of thermodynamics , which dictates that entropy, or the disorder of a system, must always increase. Unlike other systems, which see their entropy increase over time, the time crystal's entropy did not increase no matter how many times it was pulsed with a laser. The truly remarkable thing about the weird quantum crystals is that they are the first objects to break a fundamental symmetry of the universe, called discrete time-translation symmetry. Scientists are hoping to use the otherworldly crystals to test the boundaries of quantum mechanics — the strange rules that govern the world of the very small. 

Read more: Otherworldly 'time crystal' made inside Google quantum computer could change physics forever

Reviving 24,000-year-old zombies from Russian permafrost

If you were to find a group of zombies from the Pleistocene epoch frozen inside Siberian permafrost, reviving and cloning them is probably not high on your agenda. However, that's exactly what scientists described in a June paper published in the journal Current Biology . Thankfully, these zombies aren't the shambling, fictitious brain-eaters popularized by George Romero, but are instead tiny multicellular organisms called bdelloid rotifers. Once thawed, the tiny creatures began reproducing asexually through a process called parthenogenesis, creating perfect clones of themselves. Remarkably, analysis of the soil around the creatures showed that they had been frozen for 24,000 years, and they had survived by putting themselves inside a protective stasis called cryptobiosis. Scientists are hoping to study this clever trick to better understand cryopreservation and how it could be adapted for humans. 

Read more: 24,000-year-old 'zombies' revived and cloned from Arctic permafrost

Drilling the deepest ocean borehole ever in the Pacific Ocean

In May, scientists working off the coast of Japan used a long, thin drill called a giant piston corer to drill a 5 mile (8,000 meter) hole to the bottom of the Japan Trench. The scientists then extracted a 120-foot-long (37 m) sediment core from the bottom of the sea, hauling it all the way back up to their ship. The researchers wanted to examine the sediment core because they were searching for clues into the region's earthquake history — the drill site is located very close to the epicenter of the magnitude-9.1 Tohoku-oki earthquake. The 2011 quake caused an enormous tsunami that smashed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and caused a devastating meltdown. 

Read more: Scientists just dug the deepest ocean hole in history

Releasing a 'Russian doll' set of stomach-bursting parasites

A July study published in the journal Molecular Biology revealed that an already weird past study had produced even weirder unintended consequences. Decades ago, the Finnish scientist Ilkka Hanski introduced the Glanville fritillary butterfly onto the remote island of Sottunga, planning to study how a population of one species placed inside a harsh habitat could survive. Little did he know, the butterflies harbored a species of stomach-bursting parasitic wasp, and those wasps also carried their own, smaller, stomach-bursting hyperparasite — itself a parasitic wasp. Once the butterflies were released on Sottunga, the wasps erupted, spreading across the island with their hosts. This experiment provided later scientists with not only a fascinating ecological study, but also a clear warning that we must understand the ecological webs that form around endangered species before introducing them into new environments. 

Read more: 'Russian doll' set of stomach-bursting parasites released inside butterfly on remote Finnish island

Growing magic mushrooms in the blood through an ill-advised injection

Okay, so this one wasn't done by a scientist, but it's by far one of the weirdest amatuer experiments we've heard this year. A January study in the Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry revealed that a man who had brewed a "magic mushroom" tea and injected it into his body ended up in the emergency room with the fungus growing in his blood. After injecting the psilocybin tea, the man, who had hoped to relieve symptoms of bipolar disorder and opioid dependence, quickly became lethargic, his skin turned yellow and he started vomiting blood. The man survived, but needed to take antibiotics and antifungal drugs to remove the psychoactive fungus from his bloodstream. He also had to be put onto a respirator. A growing body of research indicates that psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms, could be a promising treatment for depression , anxiety and substance abuse — but only if taken safely. 

Read more: 'Magic mushrooms' grow in man's blood after injection with shroom tea

Originally published on Live Science.

Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.

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Babble Dabble Do

20 Science Experiments for Kids

July 20, 2016 by Ana Dziengel 7 Comments

I love to do science experiments . There I said it. I may be an adult but I love a good science experiment when I see one and luckily being a blogger means I get to try them with my kids “for work.” I do sometimes feel I have the coolest job in the world…but I digress.

This post originally appeared as 20 Quirky Cool Science Projects for Kids  in 2014. It has been updated with our best content here. 

Science for kids is one of the main subjects we focus on here on Babble Dabble Do and you’ll find that the science we like to explore is a little, well…offbeat.

Most of these are not your standard science experiments for kids, rather I always look for science projects that are both visually appealing, fun, and if possible surprising. A science project that is exciting to undertake AND looks engaging are our top criteria; the designer in me knows that the more interesting a project looks upon presentation, the more it will be attacked with gusto by kids and adults alike!

Here are 20 of my family’s favorite science experiments, many of which would be perfect for the science fair or homeschoolers.

Note: This post contains affiliate links to products I love and recommend to my readers.

Click on the project title for a link to the full experiment.

Crystal Garden  

Want to try your hand at growing crystals but short on time? This is a fun crystal experiment that takes less than 24 hours to get results. And the best part is it uses only one ingredient you can buy at the grocery/drug store.

Crystal Suncatchers

This is a companion project to the  crystal garden  experiment. When pouring out the excess water from your garden you can make a couple suncatchers on the side! They offer a different and close up view of crystallization.

Crystal Landscapes

Salt crystals are a classic science experiment. We turned ours into colorful landscapes by supersizing the experiment and adding some food coloring.

Weird & Wonderful

Insect hotel  .

Grown-ups tend to see insects as pests, especially indoors, but kids see insects for the amazing creatures they are. This project celebrates insects by making a home for them. Insect hotels are also beneficial for your garden. Learn how to make one here.

Building and DESTROYING Toothpick Structures

The architect in me loved making structures using eco packing peanuts and toothpicks. The wrecking ball nature of my kids loved melting them with water! It’s structures with a twist of chemistry!  Instructions here .

Magnet Magic

Think you can move something without touching it? Have you ever seen an indecisive magnet? We built a super siple hanging magnet structure out of skewers and then tried 4 different experiments exploring the force of magnetism. Full Tutorial Here.

Gelatin Streaking

Okay this project is just plain weird. But so cool! We tried this after a funny back story. See why we did it here.

Oozing Experiments

All kids have to try making slime at some point in their lives. There is nothing more enticing that oozing, rubbery, stretchy substances and this recipe/chemistry experiment is an all-time favorite of my daughter’s. Plus our version is Borax-free. Recipe here.

Elephant Toothpaste

Another classic! We have been experimenting with turning it into Elephant Soap as well. See how the classic experiment works here.

My daughter presented this as her science fair project this year and we watched loads of people spend time squishing this marvelous substance. Is it a solid or a liquid? Find out here.

Lemon Volcano

Got a lemon tree? Then this is for you! These are the best smelling volcanoes out there and exploits the chemical reaction between citric acid and baking soda. Full instructions here.

Chromatography Bags  

Chromatography is a fancy description for the process of separating mixtures into components. In this experiment we prove that black is really made up of different colors. All you need are water based black markers, rubbing alcohol, and some fabric. Alternatively this experiment can be done using paper towels or coffee filters, a black marker, and water. T ry it here.

Dip Dyed Craft Sticks

Color mixing is one of the easiest science projects you can do with kids. Simply put three bowls filled with red, blue, and yellow water out and ask the kids to combine two of the colors in an empty bowl. They will be delighted at the magic color that appears! This project expands on that and creates some funky looking craft sticks in the process. See what happens when wood absorbs primary colors over several hours….

Density Tower

Think all liquids mix? Density plays a huge part in whether or not a liquid will mix with another liquid. See what happens when you “stack” liquids! Try it here.

8’-10′ length of clear tubing, Water, Food coloring, (3) 1 Gallon water jugs,  Zip Ties , Fence, Small colored gravel,  Bulb Syringe  , Utility Knife (ADULTS ONLY), duct tape

Instructions

• Step One  Cut the top off one of your jugs.  Poke a large hole near the bottom of the jug to insert the tubing. Poke two holes near the top to use to hang it on the fence. Place a zip tie through each of the top holes and secure the jug in place on the fence (it will be heavy when filled with water). This will be your starting point.
• Step Two  Place one end of the tubing into the top jug. Seal the openings around the tubing/jug connection with duct tape. Make sure the end of the tubing is touching the bottom of the jug interior.
• Step Three  Use zip ties to secure the tubing to the fence with in a slight downward position to create a “roller coaster” look. Make sure that end of the tubing is lower than the tubing start point.  Add a jug at the end of the tubing to catch the water. Have a 2 nd  jug nearby to use when transferring water to the start point. Keep the tubing end loose enough to be able to lift it higher than the tubing start to stop the siphon.
• Step Four  Fill jug with water, add food coloring and some fine gravel.
• Step Five  Squeeze your bulb syringe and hold it in the squeezed position while you insert it into the end of the tubing. When you are ready to start, release the syringe and the suction will pull the water through the tubing. Try again if it doesn’t work at first. Remove the bulb syringe and position the end of the tubing to dump into the jug at the siphon end.
• Step Six  Continue adding water to the top container to keep the siphon flowing. Suck up the fine gravel and watch it move through the tubing!  To stop the siphon lift the end of the tubing higher than the start point.
• Don’t make the upward climb too high or too loopy. The bulb syringe will not be able to create enough suction to pull water through a super steep incline.
• Don’t put the zip ties too tightly around the tubing and make sure there are no kinks in your tubing that will restrict water flow.
• Do make sure the siphon end is below the start point . That is the number one rule of siphons!

Experiments with Paper

Marbled milk paper.

I love this experiment because not only do you get to do some science, you also make pretty paper too! It’s been one of the most popular projects here on Babble Dabble Do and for good reason! We used almond milk for the experiment. Full Instructions here.

How to Make Paper  

Paper making is an involved process but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Chemistry is  “…the investigation of the properties (of substances) and the ways in which they interact, combine, and change; and the use of these processes to form new substances.”   So yes, paper making qualifies as a chemistry experiment in my book (pun intended) Plus you end up with a pretty cool product afterwards. Set up a paper making station and make funky paper using paper scraps, seeds, glitter and more! Learn how to set up a Paper Making Station.

Kirigami Water Blossoms  

Since paper is made from a natural material it also absorbs water. This is a sweet little blossoming project that exploits the expansion of paper fibers when they get wet. Printable and instructions here.

Invisible Ink

Another classic science project is making invisible ink. We made some using laundry detergent, yes that’s right many laundry detergents glow! See how we did it here.

You can also try these two methods of making invisible ink:

• Lemon Juice Invisible Ink 
• Baking Soda Invisible Ink

Paper Sundials

Paper, Access to the Internet and a printer, Scissors, Tape

Go here to create a sundial for your location

• Step One  Determine where you will be placing your sundial. Chose a location that is in full sun for most of the day.
• Step Two  Visit  Damia Soler’s website  to create your own sundial. Plug in all the information for the location you will be placing the sundial. Be sure to drag a line across the face of the wall you will be placing the sundial on.
• Step Three  Print your sundial.
• Step Four  Cut and fold the sundial according to the  website’s directions . Tape the gnomon (that’s the part of the sundial that casts the shadow) together.
• Step Five  Tape your sundial on the surface you chose in step one. Since we don’t have a lot of easily accessible wall locations in full sun, I decided to place our sundial on a chair in the backyard.
• Step Six  Read it! Show your child the numbers and have them compare the shadow cast by the gnomon to the time on a clock. This is especially obvious at the start of an hour so take them outside at intervals to check the accuracy of the sundial.

The next time you are looking for a science experiment for kids (or yourself, hee, hee hee) and maybe one slightly off the beaten path, try one of the 20 experiments we’ve done here! Many of them are cross disciplinary projects which I believe helps kids think outside the box, a trait necessary for creativity!

Even more science fun:

I was a contributor a wonderful ebook resource Fizz, Pop Bang! Playful Science and Math Activities  which for children aged 3 to 8.

Check it out here:

Be sure to visit our companion post 

20 science projects for preschoolers.

Many of the projects are enjoyable for kids of all ages!

Fill your child’s life with more art, design, science, and engineering!

Subscribe and get our projects delivered straight to your inbox.

Jeanette Nyberg says

January 18, 2014 at 7:50 pm

Yes! Love these, and I’m thinking we might just systematically work through them. You have the best science experiments.

Ana Dziengel says

January 20, 2014 at 5:49 am

Thanks Jeanette! You know how much I adore Artchoo……..

Victoria says

January 21, 2014 at 1:18 pm

These are all so great!!

January 23, 2014 at 5:45 am

Thanks so much Victoria!

Emma @ P is for Preschooler says

February 19, 2014 at 11:20 pm

These are great! Guess I love the quirky because I see several I want to try with my daughter! 😉

February 21, 2014 at 7:09 am

I love off the beaten path projects! Glad to find a kindred spirit!

October 18, 2014 at 3:09 pm

so nice . I like the art project so much.

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101 Sublime Science Experiments

101 awesomely fun science experiments you can do at home with 'stuff' you've already got from Dragons' Den winner and Sublime Science founder, Mad Marc (Wileman!).

P.S. If you love these fun science experiments, you'll the love the Sublime Science Party !

How To Make Slime

Exploding Fountain

Let’s Make Some Lava!

The Legendary Volcano!

Magical Cup Drop!

Make Your Own Flute

The Sachet Submarine!

Milktastic Fun!

A Balloon Kebab Please!

Magical Movement?

Blowing Up Balloons Chemical Reactions

How to Make a Lava Lamp

How to Make a CD Hovercraft

A Nutty Experiment

Screeching Science In A Cup

How to Make an Egg Float In Water!

How to Put A Candle Out with a Balloon!

Float a Paperclip in Water Experiment

How to Make a Soap Powered Boat!

The Standing On Eggs Experiment  

Exploding Sandwich Bag Experiment

Let's Launch a Rocket!

The Balancing Can Experiment

A Cracking Eggs Experiment!

How to Suck Up An Egg!

The Mighty Can Experiment!

An Indestructible Sandwich Bag?

The Sticky Rice Experiment!

The Balloon Rocket Experiment

Clanging Coathanger Sounds!

Flying Ping Pong Balls?

The Impossible Balloon Experiment!

The Magic Water Trick!

Hairdryer and Ping Pong Ball Experiment!

How To Make A Tornado In A Bottle!

The Drowning Orange Experiment!

The Screeching Wine Glass Experiment!

The Homemade Hot Air Balloon!

Scientific Suction!

How To Put Out A Candle With Science

The Empty Bottle?

How To Make A Paper Helicopter?

The Naked Egg Experiment!

'You're In Hot Water' Experiment!

The Bouncing Ball Experiment!

Bridge Over Untroubled Water!

Smelly Red Cabbages Kitchen Chemistry

Bouncing Bubbles Experiment!

Egg/Water Balloon in a Bottle!

The Unravelling Cup!

Ultimate Egg Drop Challenge

Water Bomb Catapult

Bubble Worms

Ice Cold Magic

Ice Volcanoes

Slimy Ice Chalk

Gravity Defying Drinks

Marshmallow Mayhem

Food Colouring Flowers

Scientific Ice Cream

Unbelievable Bat

Spooky Slimer

Apple Eruption

Flying Bat Rocket

Biohazard Brain In A Bag

Explosive Ghost Rockets

Exploding Ghoul

Spooky Teabag Rocket

Growing Ghost

Giant Bat Rocket

Starlight Slime

Scientific Snowman

Scientific Snowflakes

Step Through A Christmas Card

Wrap Up That Phone Call

Christmas Tree Construction

Hot Or Cold Ice

Sweet Rainbow

Crystal Cane

Hydration Motivation

Ultimate Paper Popper

Spinning Buzzer

Ultimate Paper Shrieker

Bed Of Nails

Magically Dry Paper

Stick To Reading

Toaster Powered Hot Air Balloon

Spinning Cups Flyer

Paper Boomerang

Ultimate Paper Glider

Spinning CD

Cleaning Coins

See Through Cola

Bicarb Bath Bombs

Dancing Raisins

Scientastic Sherbet

Spool Science

Giant Bubbles

Square Bubble

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If you like fun science experiments then you’ll love the Dragons’ Den winning Sublime Science Party.  Check availability and grab your FREE Kids Party Survival Guide right now!

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The Odd And The Unusual: 17 Of The Weirdest Science Experiments

In the name of science. For global recognition. To feed some innate, unnatural curiosity. Whatever the reason, these studies pushed the boundaries of curiosity and ethics. Join us as we explore the unconventional, the eyebrow-raising, and the downright weirdest science experiments that have left their mark on scientific history.

1. The Monster Study

In Davenport, Iowa, 1939 Wendell Johnson conducted “The Monster Study” to investigate the causes of stuttering. He subjected 22 orphan children to negative speech therapy, intentionally causing speech disorders. The experiment sparked ethical debates and, just like a spokesman for the University of Iowa said, “…this is a study that should never be considered defensible in any era.”

2. The Stanford Prison Experiment

In 1971, Philip Zimbardo started the Stanford Prison Experiment , where college students played the roles of guards and prisoners in a simulated prison environment. The experiment spiraled into chaos, revealing how quickly people can adopt roles and behaviors, prompting Zimbardo to cancel the experiment after only six days. Conclusion: people will quickly fall into the role they’re expected to play.

3. The Milgram Experiment

4. The Head Transplant Experiment

5. The Little Albert Experiment

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted the Little Albert Experiment in 1920, where they conditioned a baby (Albert) to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise. They faced criticism for causing lasting psychological harm as they failed to decondition Albert of the same stimuli they’ve introduced. Unfortunately little Albert, or by his real name Douglas Merritte, died at the age of six on May 10, 1925, of hydrocephalus, a condition which caused fluid build-up in the brain. He had suffered from this condition since birth meaning he was under tremendous stress during the experiment.

6. The Aversion Project

7. The Robbers Cave Experiment

Muzafer Sherif’s Robbers Cave Experiment aimed to study intergroup conflict and cooperation by dividing boys into two groups at a summer camp. The experiment was marred by controversy, from the fact that both the parents and the kids were kept in the dark, so no consent was given. There were moments when the boys were in serious conditions that could have escalated quickly.

8. The Cat Telephone Experiment

9. The Elephant On Acid Experiment

10. The Acoustic Kitty Project

In the 1960s, the CIA attempted to train a cat as a covert listening device. The “Acoustic Kitty” project involved surgically implanting microphones and transmitters in a cat, but their first and only attempt went south quickly. During the first mission the cat was hit and killed by a taxi while crossing the road.

11. Demikhov’s Two-Headed Dogs Experiment

This was like something out of a sci-fi flick. Back in the 1950s, this Soviet scientist named Vladimir Demikhov went all Dr. Frankenstein and stitched together two dogs, two heads, one body. The idea was to study organ transplantation and survival. But, you guessed it, it was a real horror show. Most of the poor doggos didn’t make it, and it’s now considered a pretty dark chapter in the history of science.

12. Sergei Brukhonenko’s Dog Experiment

Another dog experiment with a soviet scientist pushing the buttons. In 1939 he decided to see if he could keep a dog’s head alive separately from its body. So, he hooked up the head to some crazy contraption called an autojektor. This gizmo pumped oxygenated blood into the severed head, and guess what? It worked, kinda. The dog’s head blinked, ate, and even responded to stimuli.

13. The Monkey Drug Trials

14. The Carney Landis Experiment

This was a super bizarre psychology stunt from the 1920s. This guy, Carney Landis, brought in a bunch of college students and had them do some wacky stuff. They had to smell ammonia (yikes!) and then dunk their hands into a bucket of frogs (double yikes!). But the real kicker was when Landis had them chop off a live rat’s head (triple yikes!). He wanted to see their facial expressions during all this craziness. Turns out, people make some seriously weird faces when they’re grossed out or disturbed, who would have thought?! The experiment was kinda disturbing itself and sparked lots of ethical debates.

15. Stubbins Ffirth’s Experiment

This was one heck of a stomach-churning investigation in the early 19th century. Ffirth was convinced that yellow fever wasn’t contagious, so he went all in to prove his point. He smeared himself with the vomit, blood, and sweat of yellow fever patients, and even drank a bit of it (yikes, right?). Surprisingly, he didn’t get sick! But here’s the twist: his methods were risky and didn’t prove much. We now know yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes, not human fluids. So, while Ffirth’s experiment was gutsy, it was also kinda gross and didn’t give us the right answers.

16. Montreal Experiments

What started as a race to find a cure for schizophrenia went horribly wrong in the end. He used electroconvulsive therapy and experimental drugs, poisons and hallucinogens. The patients and prisoners had no idea what was happening, being left with amnesia and having to relearn some of the most basic skills.

17. The Werner Theodor Otto Forssmann Self-experiment

He was one brave doctor, we’ll give him that. He thought it was a bright idea to, get this, insert a catheter into his own heart through his arm! Yep, he basically pioneered cardiac catheterization by taking a gamble on himself. He used a mirror and some local anesthesia to pull off this crazy stunt. And guess what? It worked! He proved that you could safely thread a catheter into the heart. His bold experiment revolutionized cardiology, helping doctors diagnose and treat heart problems.

Recommended reading next : The 10 Weirdest Mysteries That Are Unsolved From Around The World

As we wrap up our tour of the weirdest science experiments, one thing is crystal clear: the pursuit of knowledge knows no bounds. These unconventional studies have expanded the horizons of human understanding, some of them proving that in the world of science, weirdness often leads to groundbreaking discoveries. While some of them were just unethical.

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