9 bizarre scientific discoveries

1. 8/30/2018 9 bizarre scientific discoveries
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Nine unusual scientific
discoveries
By David Railton |
Science will always keep us on our toes.
Fact checked by Tim Newman
Published Wednesday 11 July 2018
Humanity's relentless pursuit of knowledge has, over the
years, brought countless benefits to society. It has also
provided us with a host of bizarre scientific findings and
obscure facts.
In this Spotlight, we cover some of the more
left-field scientific studies to have graced the
highly illustrious pages of peer-reviewed
journals.
We will cover research that spans a broad
range of topics, including penguins, blinking,
dog poop, and lawnmowers.
Although the article is relatively light-hearted,
it certainly provides some food for thought.
We hope that you will be left feeling inspired,
enlightened, and perhaps amused.
In science, no stone should be left unturned; you never know what might be hiding
underneath.
1. One pound of lead

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What weighs more: 1 pound of lead or 1 pound of feathers? This classic trick question might
have a slightly illogical "true" answer.
Of course, empirically, a pound of lead and a pound of feathers weigh the same amount. But
when this is put to the test with unsuspecting human subjects, things get a little more
confusing.
In a 2007 study, participants were blindfolded and asked to lift two unmarked boxes of
identical size, shape, and mass. One of the boxes contained a pound of lead and the other a
pound of feathers. The participants were not informed of what was in either box.
Surprisingly, more often than chance, the participants reported that the box containing lead
was heavier.
2. Enormous 'fatberg' repurposed
In 2017, an 820-foot-long, 143-ton, solid blockage was found in the sewers beneath London in
the United Kingdom. It comprised cooking grease, diapers, sanitary towels, and other things
that had found their way into the toilets of city.
This monster "fatberg" went viral as one of the most disgusting things the world has ever
seen, but — thanks to science — the fatberg is now destined for greater things.
After chipping the fatberg into blocks, scientists realized that if the oils and fat were
separated from the other waste, they could be converted into a relatively clean type of fuel
called biodiesel.
This was enough to convince U.K. water supplier Thames Water; they issued a statement
revealing that this was exactly what they planned to do with the fatberg. They concluded that
there was enough biodiesel locked within it to run 350 London buses for a day.
3. The power of penguin poop
At least one scientific study has calculated the pressure at which penguins poop. The
chinstrap and Adélie penguin species are thought to expel watery poop at about 10
kilopascals (kPa), and oily poop at about 60 kPa, in case you were wondering.
The authors conclude:

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The forces involved, lying well above those known for
humans, are high, but do not lead to an energetically wasteful
turbulent ow."
4. Birth control pills and blinking
In 1994, researchers found that women who take birth control pills blink more often than
women who do not. Quite a lot more, actually; on average, the study found, women on birth
control pills blink about 32 percent more than women not using this method of contraception.
Although this appears to be a strange side effect, it is worth noting that — according to
Alexandra Pope and Jane Bennett's 2008 book The Pill: Are you sure it's for you? — birth
control pills affect more than 150 of the body's biological functions. Some of these changes,
the authors note, are drastic, while others barely register.
Other studies have found a link between the use of birth control pills and eye health. For
instance, a 2013 study revealed that women who have used birth control pills for 3 years or
more could be twice as likely to develop glaucoma compared with women who have not used
this type of contraception.
5. Digital rectal massage and hiccups
The abstract to this highly unusual 1990 study reads, "A 60-year-old man with acute
pancreatitis developed persistent hiccups after insertion of a nasogastric tube. Removal of the
latter did not terminate the hiccups, which had also been treated with different drugs, and
several maneuvers were attempted, but with no success."
"

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Lawnmowers are not to be trifled with.
Digital rectal massage was then performed resulting in abrupt
cessation of the hiccups. Recurrence of the hiccups occurred
several hours later, and again, they were terminated
immediately with digital rectal massage."
"No other recurrences were observed. This is the second reported case associating cessation
of intractable hiccups with digital rectal massage."
"We suggest that this maneuver should be considered in cases of intractable hiccups before
proceeding with pharmacological agents."
In plain English: the doctor cured the man's hiccups by putting a finger up his butt.
6. Lawnmower perils
A 1988 study analyzed accidental injury data from the previous 10 years; specifically, the
scientists were interested in lawnmower-related injuries.
They found that these machines were to
blame for around 70,000 injuries in the
United States each year, with around 5
percent of these (3,300) affecting the eyes.
You may be wondering what people were
doing with their mowers in the late '70s and
early '80s. In fact, the problem seems to have
gotten worse since then.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission
had to issue a warning in the late '90s,
stating that 230,000 people were being hospitalized per year with mower-related injuries.
Worse, the statement announced that 75 people were killed each year by mowers, and that 1
out of every 5 deaths involved a child.
Encouragingly, this trend in mower injuries seems to have reversed over the decades. A 2018
study looked at U.S. emergency department data from 2005–2015 and reported an average
of 84,944 mower-related injuries per year, with the most commonly affected body part being
the hand or finger.
"

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7. Pills: Does the color matter?
Several studies have found that the color of the pills we take can have a subliminal effect on
how we think those medicines will work. Even if the pills themselves are nothing more than a
placebo, their color scheme convinces our brain and body that we have taken an active
compound.
If you are wondering how this translates, studies have found that people perceive:
blue pills to be sedatives
red and orange pills to be stimulants
yellow pills to be antidepressants
pills in bright colors, with embossed brand names, or both to be stronger
In other words, we are highly suggestible, and the placebo effect is strong and highly
complicated in nature.
8. Viagra cures jet lag in hamsters
In 2007, researchers tested how the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil (brand name Viagra)
might impact hamsters' sense of jet lag.
In laboratory conditions that simulated a 6-hour time zone change, hamsters that received a
single dose of Viagra were found to adjust up to 50 percent quicker than hamsters that did
not receive Viagra.
Because the drug appeared to have such a powerful effect in the hamsters, the researchers
speculated that Viagra might have useful applications in treating jet lag in humans.
9. Dogs can detect Earth's magnetic field
In 2013, researchers discovered that when dogs poop, they naturally align themselves so that
they are facing either north or south. This was also true for urinating, except in male dogs,
who do not really seem to care which direction they face.

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The study authors concluded that dogs behave in this way because they are sensitive to
Earth's magnetic field.
Other animals sensitive to Earth's magnetic field include cows and deer (who graze along the
north-south axis), and birds, fish, and whales (who use the magnetic field to navigate).
If you find all of this a bit unbelievable, why not take a compass out with you the next time
your dog needs the bathroom and make a record of your findings?
We hope that you enjoyed this brief waltz through some of the odder realms of scientific
research. If you stumble across anything unusual, don't hesitate to get in touch.
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