Science's Limits Are Only Self-Imposed

Tristfardd writes "The Independent has a fine article on ridiculous experiments, some of which really are ridiculous, while others have interesting ramifications. If only the article gave links for viewing the rotating frog or the film on self-trepanation."

Comments

Soul experiment was bad science

[merdark]

The soul experiment was terribly bad science, and from it we can only conclude that the man who performed it believed in a soul, and hence found that.

Details can be found here:
http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.a sp

Some of the short points are:
* small sample size of 4 cases
* the results varied widely
* deciding upon the exact time of death is no easy task

All in all, the experiment proves nothing.

Re:As for the 'soul' experiment...

[Idarubicin]

The article forgot to mention that there was indeed a plausible explanation for the 21 grams lost after each person died.

I'm going with the plausible explanation of

his instruments weren't very precise;

he saw a loss in weight in only four of the six patients--the others gained weight; and

he had a result in mind that he wanted to see.

Also, the air explanation doesn't...er...hold water. Other posters have noted that the mass of air that will fit even in fully inflated lungs is only about (off the top of my head, now) about two or three grams. Plus, as an AC astutely noted, Archimedes would have a problem with this explanation. The air in the lungs won't have any effect on the measured weight of the person, because it's displacing an equal mass of air around the body.