Experiments are one way to discover new and interesting things in the field of science. However, not all experiments go according to plan or expectations. Some experiments even cause controversy, cruelty, or harm to humans and the environment. Here are 7 experiments that amazed the world because of their extraordinary results or methods.
1. Stanford Prison Experiment
This experiment was conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971 at Stanford University. The aim is to examine the influence of social roles and situations on human behavior. Zimbardo divided the 24 students into two groups: guards and prisoners. They were then put in a fake prison built in the university’s basement. This experiment was supposed to last for two weeks, but had to be stopped after six days because the situation had become so brutal and inhumane. Guards began to abuse their power and abuse prisoners physically and mentally. Prisoners also experience stress, depression and trauma. These experiments show that humans can turn evil or obedient depending on the role and environment they encounter.
2. Atomic Bomb Experiment
This experiment was carried out by scientists who were part of the Manhattan Project in the 1940s. They succeeded in creating the world’s first nuclear weapon by splitting uranium or plutonium atoms. This weapon was then tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. The resulting explosion was very powerful and created a giant mushroom cloud in the sky. This experiment paved the way for the use of atomic bombs in World War II, namely in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. These atomic bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people and caused negative impacts on health and the environment for decades later.
3. Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
This experiment was carried out by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1932-1972. The goal was to study the development of syphilis in black men living in rural areas of Alabama. A total of 600 men were subjects of this experiment, 399 of whom were infected with syphilis and 201 were not. They were not told about their illness and were not given appropriate treatment, even though the drug penicillin had been available since the 1940s. They are only given placebos, vitamins, or ineffective drugs. Many of them died, suffered disabilities, or passed the disease on to their wives or children. This experiment was only revealed to the public in 1972 by a journalist named Jean Heller. These experiments sparked outrage and criticism for violating human rights and medical ethics.
4. Milgram’s experiment
This experiment was carried out by psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1961-1963 at Yale University. The aim is to examine human obedience to authority, especially in the context of the Nazi Holocaust. Milgram recruited 40 people as experimental subjects called teachers. They are asked to provide electrical support to other people called students (learners) if they answer the questions given by the teacher incorrectly. The students were actually actors who pretended to be in pain or die from the electrical shock. The authority in this experiment was a scientist wearing a laboratory coat and ordering the teacher to continue providing electrical support even though the students begged him to stop. As a result, around 65% of teachers were willing to provide the highest electrical power (450 volts) to students just because they were ordered by the authorities. This experiment shows that humans tend to submit to authority even if it goes against their conscience.
5. Dolly Cloning Experiment
This experiment was carried out by scientists Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell in 1996 at the Roslin Institute, Scotland. They succeeded in creating the world’s first cloned animal, namely a sheep named Dolly. Dolly is made using somatic cells (body cells) from the mammary glands of an adult sheep. This cell is then injected into an egg cell that has had its nucleus emptied. The egg cells containing DNA from somatic cells are then transferred to the uterus of another sheep which functions as a surrogate mother. Dolly was born on July 5, 1996 and lived for six years before dying of lung disease. These experiments proved that animals could be cloned from adult cells and opened the possibility for human cloning in the future.
6. Pavlov’s experiments
This experiment was carried out by scientist Ivan Pavlov in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Russia. The goal is to study the phenomenon of classical conditioning, namely the learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus is associated with a stimulus that causes a certain response. Pavlov used dogs as experimental subjects. He observed that dogs would salivate when they saw food. He then added another stimulus, namely the sound of a bell, which played every time the dog was given food. After a few times, the dog will salivate at the mere sound of the bell, without even seeing the food. These experiments show that a dog’s behavior can be influenced by stimuli that were previously unrelated to the response.
7. HeLa Experiment
This experiment was carried out by scientists who used cancer cells taken from a black woman named Henrietta Lacks in 1951 at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. These cancer cells are known as HeLa cells and have the ability to continue to grow and reproduce in the laboratory. HeLa cells have been an important resource for medical and biological research for decades. HeLa cells are used to develop polio vaccines, test the effects of radiation, clone genes, study diseases such as AIDS and cancer, and much more. However, these experiments also raised ethical issues because HeLa cells were taken without the consent or knowledge of Henrietta Lacks or her family. In addition, Henrietta Lacks’ identity was also not respected and protected by scientists.
As time goes by, scientific experiments will continue to be a window into deeper worlds, and we must remain open to new discoveries that might change our view of reality. With a spirit of research and boundless curiosity, we can continue to solve untold mysteries, embrace change, and celebrate inspiring achievements.
These are some of the experiments that amazed the world with extraordinary results. These experiments prove that science never stops developing and exploring new things. Hopefully this article can provide inspiration and insight for those of you who are interested in the world of science. Thank you for reading this article to the end.
