1 00:00:01,917 --> 00:00:07,417 [dramatic music] 2 00:00:08,542 --> 00:00:11,500 [suspenseful music] 3 00:00:14,125 --> 00:00:17,374 We've covered our fair share of odd experiments, 4 00:00:17,375 --> 00:00:20,541 but these are the strangest of them all. 5 00:00:20,542 --> 00:00:23,666 Like the doctor who believes youth can be restored 6 00:00:23,667 --> 00:00:25,708 with a little help from a goat. 7 00:00:27,125 --> 00:00:29,957 - Brinkley is taking the testicles from Billy goats 8 00:00:29,958 --> 00:00:34,957 and inserting them into the scrotums of his human patients. 9 00:00:34,958 --> 00:00:37,624 - Men lined up by the thousands, 10 00:00:37,625 --> 00:00:41,125 even given the fact that it sounds pretty sketchy. 11 00:00:42,375 --> 00:00:45,624 - Or a fearless backyard flyer who takes to the skies 12 00:00:45,625 --> 00:00:46,675 in a lawn chair. 13 00:00:48,958 --> 00:00:51,874 - Larry reaches 16,000 feet. 14 00:00:51,875 --> 00:00:55,332 That's three miles above the earth. 15 00:00:55,333 --> 00:00:58,000 - At this point, he's rapidly losing oxygen. 16 00:00:58,958 --> 00:01:00,417 Now he's kind of freaking out. 17 00:01:01,542 --> 00:01:04,207 - How about the CIA's plan to turn a house cat 18 00:01:04,208 --> 00:01:05,666 into a super spy? 19 00:01:05,667 --> 00:01:08,624 - Cats are notoriously difficult to train. 20 00:01:08,625 --> 00:01:11,207 - [Daniel] They get the cat ready, they open the van, 21 00:01:11,208 --> 00:01:15,707 the cat jumps out, and... 22 00:01:15,708 --> 00:01:18,999 - These are the mad minds behind experiments. 23 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,041 So outrageous, they are truly unbelievable. 24 00:01:22,042 --> 00:01:27,792 [dramatic music] 25 00:01:31,186 --> 00:01:37,124 - The search for eternal youth has inspired legends, potions, 26 00:01:37,125 --> 00:01:38,999 and endless promises. 27 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:40,291 But in the late 1920s, 28 00:01:40,292 --> 00:01:43,082 one doctor claims he has the real thing 29 00:01:43,083 --> 00:01:46,624 hidden in a place no one expects. 30 00:01:46,625 --> 00:01:48,624 - [Brinkley] And gentlemen, this is Dr. J. R. Brinkley. 31 00:01:48,625 --> 00:01:51,416 - The 1920s, it's the dawn of radio. 32 00:01:51,417 --> 00:01:53,416 Just about every American family has one 33 00:01:53,417 --> 00:01:56,457 and they gather around it at night to listen. 34 00:01:56,458 --> 00:01:59,624 - One of the most successful shows on the radio at the time 35 00:01:59,625 --> 00:02:02,124 is hosted by a Kansas based doctor 36 00:02:02,125 --> 00:02:04,667 named John Romulus Brinkley. 37 00:02:05,625 --> 00:02:08,041 Twice daily, he plays country music, 38 00:02:08,042 --> 00:02:12,541 preaches the gospel, but most importantly tells his audience 39 00:02:12,542 --> 00:02:15,208 how modern medicine is failing them. 40 00:02:15,209 --> 00:02:18,041 - Brinkley ends up making a fortune. 41 00:02:18,042 --> 00:02:20,499 He's netting about $14,000 a week. 42 00:02:20,500 --> 00:02:23,374 That's about a quarter of a million dollars today 43 00:02:23,375 --> 00:02:26,457 just from prescribing these tonics and elixirs 44 00:02:26,458 --> 00:02:29,374 to these listeners for all sorts of ailments. 45 00:02:29,375 --> 00:02:31,374 - [Dan] But for all his so-called cures, 46 00:02:31,375 --> 00:02:34,666 one bizarre treatment grabs national attention 47 00:02:34,667 --> 00:02:36,625 and makes Brinkley a household name. 48 00:02:38,542 --> 00:02:42,124 - Brinkley is taking the testicles from six week old 49 00:02:42,125 --> 00:02:45,582 Billy goats and inserting them into the scrotums 50 00:02:45,583 --> 00:02:48,667 of his human patients just under the skin. 51 00:02:48,668 --> 00:02:52,374 - Brinkley says he worked at a slaughterhouse 52 00:02:52,375 --> 00:02:55,916 when he was a young man and he noticed the goats were virile 53 00:02:55,917 --> 00:02:57,832 and resistant to disease. 54 00:02:57,833 --> 00:03:00,791 They seemed to have all this get up and go. 55 00:03:00,792 --> 00:03:05,541 - And this inspires his claim that transplanting goat gonads 56 00:03:05,542 --> 00:03:09,166 to human patients can give tired old men 57 00:03:09,167 --> 00:03:12,167 the energy and virility of a young goat. 58 00:03:13,375 --> 00:03:16,707 - Men line up by the thousands to get this 59 00:03:16,708 --> 00:03:18,624 unvalidated treatment. 60 00:03:18,625 --> 00:03:21,625 Even given the fact that it sounds pretty sketchy. 61 00:03:21,626 --> 00:03:24,791 - [Dan] This isn't just a medical hustle, 62 00:03:24,792 --> 00:03:26,707 its a national phenomenon, 63 00:03:26,708 --> 00:03:29,417 led by a man with almost no real training. 64 00:03:29,418 --> 00:03:32,332 - I think calling him a real medical doctor 65 00:03:32,333 --> 00:03:33,749 is a stretch too far. 66 00:03:33,750 --> 00:03:36,416 He claims he took these correspondence courses 67 00:03:36,417 --> 00:03:38,374 with Eclectic University, 68 00:03:38,375 --> 00:03:40,957 but that's kinda like getting a medical degree 69 00:03:40,958 --> 00:03:43,166 from watching YouTube videos. 70 00:03:43,167 --> 00:03:45,541 - And although Brinkley claims to be doing a lot 71 00:03:45,542 --> 00:03:49,041 during this procedure, he's actually just making an incision 72 00:03:49,042 --> 00:03:52,457 in a scrotum and he's stuffing this goat testicle in there 73 00:03:52,458 --> 00:03:55,041 and he's not connecting any blood vessels. 74 00:03:55,042 --> 00:03:56,666 He's not connecting any sort of tubes 75 00:03:56,667 --> 00:03:59,124 that could transport the different hormones 76 00:03:59,125 --> 00:04:00,667 from the goat testicle. 77 00:04:00,668 --> 00:04:03,707 - [Dan] Brinkley performs this procedure 78 00:04:03,708 --> 00:04:07,707 upwards of 5,000 times and unbelievably, 79 00:04:07,708 --> 00:04:10,374 a large portion of his patients say 80 00:04:10,375 --> 00:04:11,958 they've never felt better. 81 00:04:13,375 --> 00:04:14,874 - Let's be clear on this. 82 00:04:14,875 --> 00:04:18,666 There is no biological basis for any of this. 83 00:04:18,667 --> 00:04:22,416 Most experts agree that it's the placebo effect, 84 00:04:22,417 --> 00:04:24,749 the power of suggestion. 85 00:04:24,750 --> 00:04:28,082 - [Dan] By the late 1920s, skepticism starts to rise 86 00:04:28,083 --> 00:04:29,999 and one physician finally steps up 87 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,625 to challenge Brinkley head-on. 88 00:04:32,875 --> 00:04:36,749 - In 1928, Brinkley actually gets called out 89 00:04:36,750 --> 00:04:40,874 by a more mainstream doctor named Morris Fishbein. 90 00:04:40,875 --> 00:04:45,457 He calls Dr. Brinkley a charlatan of the rankest sort 91 00:04:45,458 --> 00:04:48,874 and publishes a paper that gets the attention 92 00:04:48,875 --> 00:04:50,874 of the Kansas Medical Board. 93 00:04:50,875 --> 00:04:53,374 - They revoked both his radio license 94 00:04:53,375 --> 00:04:57,042 and his specious medical license in the state of Kansas. 95 00:04:57,043 --> 00:04:59,916 - [Dan] Incredibly, this doesn't stop Brinkley. 96 00:04:59,917 --> 00:05:02,087 He moves to Texas where the laws are looser 97 00:05:03,208 --> 00:05:05,000 and he cooks up his next big idea. 98 00:05:06,208 --> 00:05:07,749 - He calls it Formula 10-20. 99 00:05:07,750 --> 00:05:10,499 It's a distillation of goat glands 100 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:14,875 and that can cure everything from impotence to insanity. 101 00:05:14,876 --> 00:05:17,291 - [Dan] As Brinkley rakes in the dough 102 00:05:17,292 --> 00:05:19,207 and continues pedaling his goat cures 103 00:05:19,208 --> 00:05:21,041 all over the southern US, 104 00:05:21,042 --> 00:05:23,833 there's someone else who rivals his persistence. 105 00:05:25,708 --> 00:05:28,541 - Dr. Fishbein, he decides to write a new piece 106 00:05:28,542 --> 00:05:31,416 on charlatanism and this time he gets it published 107 00:05:31,417 --> 00:05:32,749 in the prestigious journal 108 00:05:32,750 --> 00:05:36,042 of the American Medical Association in 1938. 109 00:05:37,375 --> 00:05:38,582 - Brinkley is incensed 110 00:05:38,583 --> 00:05:40,707 that he gets mentioned in this article, 111 00:05:40,708 --> 00:05:43,500 so he decides to sue for libel. 112 00:05:44,875 --> 00:05:48,666 - [Dan] But Dr. Brinkley shrivels on the stand. 113 00:05:48,667 --> 00:05:51,041 - Under oath, Brinkley is forced to admit 114 00:05:51,042 --> 00:05:54,749 that he knew the goat gland surgeries he was performing 115 00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:59,708 could not possibly enhance a human male's virility, 116 00:06:00,542 --> 00:06:01,792 and he knew it all along. 117 00:06:05,458 --> 00:06:08,249 - If you think goat parts are extreme, 118 00:06:08,250 --> 00:06:09,749 just wait till you hear 119 00:06:09,750 --> 00:06:12,417 where our next mad surgeon gets his ingredients. 120 00:06:14,208 --> 00:06:15,957 - In 1928, Buck Kelly, 121 00:06:15,958 --> 00:06:19,374 a 23-year-old is executed at San Quentin. 122 00:06:19,375 --> 00:06:22,041 They take him to the gallows, he's hanged. 123 00:06:22,042 --> 00:06:24,957 After that's done, they take down his body 124 00:06:24,958 --> 00:06:28,874 and hand it over to the resident medical expert, 125 00:06:28,875 --> 00:06:29,999 Leo Stanley. 126 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,374 He performs the autopsy as one would expect, 127 00:06:32,375 --> 00:06:35,625 and then does one other little thing. 128 00:06:36,542 --> 00:06:38,375 He removes Buck's testicles. 129 00:06:39,500 --> 00:06:41,666 - [Dan] Just who is Leo Stanley 130 00:06:41,667 --> 00:06:44,832 and why is he collecting testicles from a dead inmate? 131 00:06:44,833 --> 00:06:47,457 - Leo Stanley is a guy who goes to college 132 00:06:47,458 --> 00:06:50,041 originally at Stanford, but then he drops out 133 00:06:50,042 --> 00:06:52,374 and later he goes to Cooper College 134 00:06:52,375 --> 00:06:54,541 and actually gets a medical degree 135 00:06:54,542 --> 00:06:57,332 and he is looking forward to being a doctor. 136 00:06:57,333 --> 00:06:58,791 - He thinks he's gonna live a life 137 00:06:58,792 --> 00:07:00,874 of just a town physician somewhere, 138 00:07:00,875 --> 00:07:03,957 and then an opening appears at San Quentin 139 00:07:03,958 --> 00:07:06,792 and he applies for it and he gets it. 140 00:07:08,708 --> 00:07:12,166 - [Dan] But Stanley's not just there to treat criminals. 141 00:07:12,167 --> 00:07:15,749 He's also determined to curb their bad behavior 142 00:07:15,750 --> 00:07:19,707 and he has some odd ideas on how to do it. 143 00:07:19,708 --> 00:07:22,041 - He feels that there is a direct link 144 00:07:22,042 --> 00:07:26,707 between the age of a man's glands and gonads 145 00:07:26,708 --> 00:07:31,083 and his tendency to commit horrible and heinous crimes. 146 00:07:32,875 --> 00:07:36,750 - Leo comes up with the idea of doing testicle transplants. 147 00:07:41,083 --> 00:07:43,707 But Leo doesn't use slivers, 148 00:07:43,708 --> 00:07:47,042 he uses entire, whole testicles. 149 00:07:49,542 --> 00:07:53,167 - Stanley believes that his surgical process 150 00:07:54,542 --> 00:07:57,916 will actually be a floor of social rehabilitation, 151 00:07:57,917 --> 00:08:00,999 that these prisoners who had been stuck in San Quentin 152 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,707 once they had a new set of testicles, could go out, 153 00:08:04,708 --> 00:08:08,041 be productive members of society and would not return 154 00:08:08,042 --> 00:08:09,374 to San Quentin. 155 00:08:09,375 --> 00:08:11,541 - Ranging from voluntary to involuntary, 156 00:08:11,542 --> 00:08:14,332 Dr. Stanley carries out this experiment 157 00:08:14,333 --> 00:08:15,957 at least a thousand times, 158 00:08:15,958 --> 00:08:19,332 taking them off of freshly executed prisoners 159 00:08:19,333 --> 00:08:22,163 and putting them onto those who are still alive and well. 160 00:08:22,164 --> 00:08:25,249 - [Dan] Eventually the mad testicle transplantar 161 00:08:25,250 --> 00:08:30,458 of San Quentin runs into a bit of a supply problem. 162 00:08:33,125 --> 00:08:36,541 - He doesn't have enough source of young male testicles. 163 00:08:36,542 --> 00:08:38,541 They're not executing a young inmate 164 00:08:38,542 --> 00:08:40,124 every day or every week even. 165 00:08:40,125 --> 00:08:41,166 So what does he do? 166 00:08:41,167 --> 00:08:42,874 He turns to animals. 167 00:08:42,875 --> 00:08:47,749 Goats, deer, bears, water buffalo, you name it. 168 00:08:47,750 --> 00:08:50,583 If it has balls, he's putting it in an old dude. 169 00:08:50,656 --> 00:08:55,291 - [Dan] When the grafts fail to produce results, 170 00:08:55,292 --> 00:09:00,082 Stanley doubles down with something far more invasive. 171 00:09:00,083 --> 00:09:02,374 - He does something incredibly bizarre 172 00:09:02,375 --> 00:09:04,832 and you know, kind of gross. 173 00:09:04,833 --> 00:09:08,207 He takes a bunch of testicles 174 00:09:08,208 --> 00:09:11,750 and he blends them up into kind of a paste 175 00:09:14,625 --> 00:09:17,832 and he injects this testicle paste 176 00:09:17,833 --> 00:09:20,875 into the abdomen of prisoners. 177 00:09:22,958 --> 00:09:26,707 - Leo's testicle mash paste injection idea doesn't work 178 00:09:26,708 --> 00:09:29,457 either, so he comes up with a new idea. 179 00:09:29,458 --> 00:09:31,624 Okay, if I can't restore your vitality, 180 00:09:31,625 --> 00:09:34,291 I can at least restore your looks. 181 00:09:34,292 --> 00:09:38,749 - And so he starts offering plastic surgery to the inmates 182 00:09:38,750 --> 00:09:40,957 so they can look more handsome 183 00:09:40,958 --> 00:09:44,332 so that when they get out they can maybe find a wife 184 00:09:44,333 --> 00:09:47,124 or get a job or be somewhat normal. 185 00:09:47,125 --> 00:09:51,832 This guy, his chain of reasoning is not exactly strong. 186 00:09:51,833 --> 00:09:55,958 Why he wasn't fired almost immediately is a mystery. 187 00:10:01,042 --> 00:10:04,332 - [Dan] After 40 years, Dr. Leo Stanley's experiments 188 00:10:04,333 --> 00:10:06,541 finally come to an end. 189 00:10:06,542 --> 00:10:08,874 - He's kind of your real Dr. Frankenstein. 190 00:10:08,875 --> 00:10:13,499 He sees inmates as things that he can experiment on, 191 00:10:13,500 --> 00:10:15,207 that he can play with. 192 00:10:15,208 --> 00:10:16,874 He's carving up human beings 193 00:10:16,875 --> 00:10:20,625 and he does this 10,000 times across his career. 194 00:10:23,042 --> 00:10:26,541 - In the end, Dr. Stanley can't unlock the secret to youth, 195 00:10:26,542 --> 00:10:28,749 but he does carve out one of the strangest 196 00:10:28,750 --> 00:10:31,280 and most unsettling chapters in medical history. 197 00:10:33,466 --> 00:10:37,957 - When one of history's greatest minds fires up 198 00:10:37,958 --> 00:10:40,916 a strange device, let's just say it shakes 199 00:10:40,917 --> 00:10:42,875 a whole lot more than the walls. 200 00:10:45,083 --> 00:10:48,832 - In the 1890s, genius inventor Nikola Tesla. 201 00:10:48,833 --> 00:10:52,207 He is working on new, more efficient ways 202 00:10:52,208 --> 00:10:53,875 of generating electricity. 203 00:10:55,958 --> 00:10:59,541 - The rotating electrical generator he finds 204 00:10:59,542 --> 00:11:02,249 is not very efficient, 205 00:11:02,250 --> 00:11:04,832 so he decides to invent a new version. 206 00:11:04,833 --> 00:11:07,375 Something oscillating, goes up and down. 207 00:11:07,376 --> 00:11:10,041 - So basically it works with an air 208 00:11:10,042 --> 00:11:12,374 or steam powered piston driving a coil back and forth 209 00:11:12,375 --> 00:11:14,666 through a magnetic field. 210 00:11:14,667 --> 00:11:17,332 This happens on an incredible frequency. 211 00:11:17,333 --> 00:11:21,166 - This device does create a lot of electricity 212 00:11:21,167 --> 00:11:26,166 very efficiently, but it also produces an enormous amount 213 00:11:26,167 --> 00:11:27,217 of vibration. 214 00:11:31,083 --> 00:11:33,707 - The amount of vibration is so immense, 215 00:11:33,708 --> 00:11:35,124 not only does it shake his building, 216 00:11:35,125 --> 00:11:38,041 it shakes the neighboring buildings so much 217 00:11:38,042 --> 00:11:40,582 so they think they're experiencing an earthquake. 218 00:11:40,583 --> 00:11:42,707 - [Dan] As scary as this is at first, 219 00:11:42,708 --> 00:11:44,917 there seems to be at least one upside. 220 00:11:46,500 --> 00:11:50,249 - Tesla's team realizes that if they stand on a platform 221 00:11:50,250 --> 00:11:51,916 above the machine, 222 00:11:51,917 --> 00:11:55,208 the vibrations get sent throughout your whole body. 223 00:11:55,209 --> 00:11:58,916 - People who experience this are having like laughing fits, 224 00:11:58,917 --> 00:12:00,374 their mood changes 225 00:12:00,375 --> 00:12:03,333 and some people say it actually improved their health. 226 00:12:04,292 --> 00:12:06,332 - Tesla ever the inventor thinks, 227 00:12:06,333 --> 00:12:10,457 hey, maybe this machine might have applications in medicine. 228 00:12:10,458 --> 00:12:13,707 Maybe it could destroy cancer cells 229 00:12:13,708 --> 00:12:16,832 or eliminate tuberculosis. 230 00:12:16,833 --> 00:12:17,999 - [Dan] It may even be able to help 231 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,749 one of Tesla's famous friends 232 00:12:20,750 --> 00:12:23,374 who's suffering from something much different. 233 00:12:23,375 --> 00:12:26,499 - In the 1890s, Tesla becomes a good friend 234 00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:28,708 with no other than Mark Twain. 235 00:12:29,875 --> 00:12:33,541 - When Tesla and Twain meet at a dinner party, 236 00:12:33,542 --> 00:12:35,833 a bromance quickly ensues. 237 00:12:37,125 --> 00:12:39,957 - As they get closer, Twain reveals the fact 238 00:12:39,958 --> 00:12:42,207 that he's suffering from a really embarrassing problem. 239 00:12:42,208 --> 00:12:46,083 He has insufferable constipation. 240 00:12:47,542 --> 00:12:50,499 - Tesla tells Mark, I think I might have something for you. 241 00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:52,124 Go stand on that platform. 242 00:12:52,125 --> 00:12:55,374 We're gonna let those vibrations coarse through your body 243 00:12:55,375 --> 00:12:58,125 and we're gonna see if we can shake something loose. 244 00:13:01,167 --> 00:13:04,541 - But Tesla gives Twain a very frank warning, 245 00:13:04,542 --> 00:13:08,833 when I say get off the machine, you get off the machine. 246 00:13:09,875 --> 00:13:11,999 - Twain loves it. 247 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,541 He's eating it up. 248 00:13:13,542 --> 00:13:18,041 He's euphoric, he's feeling better than he has in years. 249 00:13:18,042 --> 00:13:20,207 - But sure enough, eventually Tesla is like 250 00:13:20,208 --> 00:13:23,082 "Yo time, you gotta get off now." 251 00:13:23,083 --> 00:13:25,374 And Twain is like, you're tripping, dude. 252 00:13:25,375 --> 00:13:28,416 - Twain says, no way, I'm not stopping this. 253 00:13:28,417 --> 00:13:32,416 - [Austin] Suddenly Twain feels a gurgling in his intestines 254 00:13:32,417 --> 00:13:33,999 and he hops off the platform 255 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,624 and makes a mad dash for the bathroom. 256 00:13:36,625 --> 00:13:41,792 - But unfortunately, nature is a bit faster than he is. 257 00:13:43,125 --> 00:13:47,375 - On the upside, Tesla did prove his theory. 258 00:13:48,375 --> 00:13:51,957 Today, vibration therapy is proven 259 00:13:51,958 --> 00:13:53,999 in alleviating constipation. 260 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,207 So much so that in 2023, 261 00:13:57,208 --> 00:13:59,832 University of Georgia invented a vibrating pill 262 00:13:59,833 --> 00:14:02,417 to help disrupt constipation. 263 00:14:04,042 --> 00:14:06,957 - Fortunately, the only casualty in Tesla's experiment 264 00:14:06,958 --> 00:14:08,458 was Mark Twain's dignity. 265 00:14:09,958 --> 00:14:12,368 But our next inventor risks a lot more than that. 266 00:14:14,458 --> 00:14:18,332 - It's 1962, and a 13-year-old boy named Larry Walters 267 00:14:18,333 --> 00:14:22,124 walks into an army surplus store in Los Angeles. 268 00:14:22,125 --> 00:14:26,041 Suddenly something unusual catches his attention. 269 00:14:26,042 --> 00:14:27,749 These large weather balloons 270 00:14:27,750 --> 00:14:29,624 that are hanging from the ceiling 271 00:14:29,625 --> 00:14:33,375 and that moment begins Larry's fixation with flying. 272 00:14:33,376 --> 00:14:37,374 - As he gets older, he graduates from high school, 273 00:14:37,375 --> 00:14:39,999 he heads down to the Air Force Recruitment Center, 274 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:41,999 and as they go through the process, 275 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:43,332 they get to the eye exam 276 00:14:43,333 --> 00:14:47,250 and he finds that his eyesight is not up to snuff. 277 00:14:49,167 --> 00:14:51,041 - [Dan] With his dream dashed, 278 00:14:51,042 --> 00:14:54,124 Larry spends the next 15 years doing odd jobs, 279 00:14:54,125 --> 00:14:56,374 eventually becoming a truck driver, 280 00:14:56,375 --> 00:14:59,125 but his fixation with flying never goes away. 281 00:15:01,125 --> 00:15:03,082 - Now the year is 1982 282 00:15:03,083 --> 00:15:06,832 and a 33-year-old Larry is pulled over to the side 283 00:15:06,833 --> 00:15:09,041 of the road and he's looking up at the sky 284 00:15:09,042 --> 00:15:11,207 and he starts thinking about those great big weather 285 00:15:11,208 --> 00:15:14,541 balloons he saw hanging from the ceiling when he was 13. 286 00:15:14,542 --> 00:15:17,916 - Right then and there, Larry hatches his plan. 287 00:15:17,917 --> 00:15:19,707 He's going to get some weather balloons, 288 00:15:19,708 --> 00:15:23,291 fill them with helium, he's going to sail through the air 289 00:15:23,292 --> 00:15:26,166 over the San Gabriel Mountains and land safe 290 00:15:26,167 --> 00:15:28,082 and sound in the Mojave Desert. 291 00:15:28,083 --> 00:15:30,707 - Some people may think it's a crazy idea or a pipe dream, 292 00:15:30,708 --> 00:15:32,167 but it isn't to Larry. 293 00:15:36,875 --> 00:15:40,541 Larry shares his idea with his girlfriend, Carol Van Dusen. 294 00:15:40,542 --> 00:15:44,457 She sort of laughs it off like a crazy flight of fancy 295 00:15:44,458 --> 00:15:49,458 and she thinks he'll never do this, but Larry disagrees. 296 00:15:50,208 --> 00:15:51,292 This is now a mission. 297 00:15:52,250 --> 00:15:54,332 - Larry draws up blueprints. 298 00:15:54,333 --> 00:15:58,667 He decides he's going to take 42 weather balloons, 299 00:16:00,167 --> 00:16:04,583 rig the balloons to an old fashioned lawn chair, 300 00:16:05,542 --> 00:16:08,874 attach 30 gallon size jugs of water 301 00:16:08,875 --> 00:16:12,917 to release weight if he needs to go higher, 302 00:16:14,125 --> 00:16:19,208 and he also brings with him a BB gun. 303 00:16:19,209 --> 00:16:22,457 - Plan is that when he gets to about 7,000 feet, 304 00:16:22,458 --> 00:16:25,541 he will then start shooting judiciously 305 00:16:25,542 --> 00:16:28,874 a few of those balloons and start his descent. 306 00:16:28,875 --> 00:16:31,083 - [Dan] Could this absurd plan even work? 307 00:16:33,625 --> 00:16:38,208 On July 2nd, 1982, Larry decides to find out. 308 00:16:38,209 --> 00:16:40,707 - You could just imagine what this must have 309 00:16:40,708 --> 00:16:42,124 looked like to neighbors. 310 00:16:42,125 --> 00:16:44,541 They're out in the streets looking, gawking, 311 00:16:44,542 --> 00:16:47,249 along with Carol is Larry's best friend Ron. 312 00:16:47,250 --> 00:16:50,207 He's here to film the whole thing for posterity's sake. 313 00:16:50,208 --> 00:16:53,416 - As fate would have it, just as Ron yells Larry, 314 00:16:53,417 --> 00:16:58,082 don't do this, a gust of wind blows up, snaps the rope, 315 00:16:58,083 --> 00:17:00,500 and the chair flies into the air. 316 00:17:01,833 --> 00:17:05,207 - [Dan] In no time, Larry reaches 500 feet and counting. 317 00:17:05,208 --> 00:17:09,291 Suddenly he's at 1,500 feet, the height of the Sears Tower, 318 00:17:09,292 --> 00:17:11,249 and he keeps rising. 319 00:17:11,250 --> 00:17:15,999 - After just one hour, Larry reaches 16,000 feet. 320 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,582 That's three miles above the earth. 321 00:17:18,583 --> 00:17:21,749 That's higher than the maximum altitude 322 00:17:21,750 --> 00:17:23,667 of a Cessna airplane. 323 00:17:25,375 --> 00:17:27,874 - At this point, Larry's freezing 324 00:17:27,875 --> 00:17:30,166 and he's rapidly losing oxygen. 325 00:17:30,167 --> 00:17:34,832 To make matters worse, he is been blown off course 326 00:17:34,833 --> 00:17:39,624 by the winds and now now he's encroaching 327 00:17:39,625 --> 00:17:42,417 on airspace around the Los Angeles airport. 328 00:17:44,333 --> 00:17:48,624 - At that point, a Delta flight launching out of LAX 329 00:17:48,625 --> 00:17:49,792 almost hits him. 330 00:17:52,083 --> 00:17:53,749 - [Dan] With dangers mounting, 331 00:17:53,750 --> 00:17:57,042 Larry realizes this lawn chair needs to be grounded. 332 00:17:59,417 --> 00:18:02,167 - Larry pulls out his BB gun and starts his process. 333 00:18:03,333 --> 00:18:05,683 He shoots down seven of his weather balloons, 334 00:18:09,708 --> 00:18:11,666 and then he drops his BB gun. 335 00:18:11,667 --> 00:18:13,167 It slips out of his hand. 336 00:18:13,168 --> 00:18:15,874 - [Dan] Fortunately for Larry, 337 00:18:15,875 --> 00:18:18,916 he's popped enough balloons to start his descent. 338 00:18:18,917 --> 00:18:23,541 Unfortunately, he's headed straight for the power lines. 339 00:18:23,542 --> 00:18:24,999 - Via CB Radio, 340 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:29,416 he's able to make contact with city power authorities 341 00:18:29,417 --> 00:18:31,791 who actually kill the power. 342 00:18:31,792 --> 00:18:36,333 So Larry is not electrified to death when he lands. 343 00:18:37,458 --> 00:18:39,666 He is brought back down to the ground 344 00:18:39,667 --> 00:18:43,499 surrounded by well wishers who are cheering him, 345 00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:48,124 who are asking him to sign pieces of his weather balloons. 346 00:18:48,125 --> 00:18:51,041 He's greeted like a returning hero. 347 00:18:51,042 --> 00:18:52,541 - [Anchor] Did it have a name, by the way? 348 00:18:52,542 --> 00:18:54,207 - The craft itself? - The craft, yes. 349 00:18:54,208 --> 00:18:56,041 - Yes, it was called the Inspiration. 350 00:18:56,042 --> 00:18:58,249 - [Anchor] The Inspiration. 351 00:18:58,250 --> 00:19:00,457 - [Dan] Larry receives his 15 minutes of fame 352 00:19:00,458 --> 00:19:02,832 for this stunt and even appears on several 353 00:19:02,833 --> 00:19:05,207 late night talk shows, but he's also slapped 354 00:19:05,208 --> 00:19:07,625 with a $1,500 fine from the FAA. 355 00:19:09,208 --> 00:19:12,707 Interestingly, the actual lawn chair Larry piloted 356 00:19:12,708 --> 00:19:17,166 now hangs in the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, 357 00:19:17,167 --> 00:19:19,374 making this strange spectacle, 358 00:19:19,375 --> 00:19:21,485 a part of unbelievable aviation history. 359 00:19:23,739 --> 00:19:27,707 - They say necessity is the mother of invention, 360 00:19:27,708 --> 00:19:30,207 but there's one invention no mother on earth 361 00:19:30,208 --> 00:19:32,417 would want to be the test subject for. 362 00:19:33,625 --> 00:19:36,332 - It's the 1960s, an engineer named George Blonsky 363 00:19:36,333 --> 00:19:38,207 and his wife are at the Bronx Zoo 364 00:19:38,208 --> 00:19:41,916 and they get to witness the miracle of birth. 365 00:19:41,917 --> 00:19:44,541 An elephant is giving birth. 366 00:19:44,542 --> 00:19:46,541 - But they notice something kind of strange. 367 00:19:46,542 --> 00:19:49,291 The mother elephant who's giving birth is spinning around 368 00:19:49,292 --> 00:19:51,332 as the baby is coming out. 369 00:19:51,333 --> 00:19:54,582 So they ask one of the zoo employees and they explain 370 00:19:54,583 --> 00:19:57,249 that the mother is using a centrifugal force 371 00:19:57,250 --> 00:19:59,374 to help the baby come out. 372 00:19:59,375 --> 00:20:01,457 Think about those merry-go-round 373 00:20:01,458 --> 00:20:02,916 that are in playgrounds, right? 374 00:20:02,917 --> 00:20:05,374 The faster it goes, the harder it is to hang on 375 00:20:05,375 --> 00:20:07,541 and you're probably gonna fall off. 376 00:20:07,542 --> 00:20:10,124 - [Dan] That fateful moment at the zoo gets George thinking. 377 00:20:10,125 --> 00:20:14,874 Could centrifugal force concept be applied to human births? 378 00:20:14,875 --> 00:20:18,541 - The Blonskys who are childless have theorized 379 00:20:18,542 --> 00:20:21,541 that modern women have lost their birthing muscles, 380 00:20:21,542 --> 00:20:23,416 have lost their abdominal strength, 381 00:20:23,417 --> 00:20:26,541 and thus might need a little help specifically 382 00:20:26,542 --> 00:20:29,832 by spinning her in the same way 383 00:20:29,833 --> 00:20:32,291 that the elephant was witness spinning on its own 384 00:20:32,292 --> 00:20:33,874 at the zoo. 385 00:20:33,875 --> 00:20:38,458 - Blonsky is not an OB-GYN, but he is a mining engineer. 386 00:20:39,083 --> 00:20:42,541 - [Dan] Despite this, by 1965, the couple gets a patent 387 00:20:42,542 --> 00:20:46,541 for what will later be known as the Blonsky birthing table. 388 00:20:46,542 --> 00:20:48,832 - So this thing looks horrifying. 389 00:20:48,833 --> 00:20:50,666 It looks like a medieval torture device. 390 00:20:50,667 --> 00:20:54,457 This woman is strapped onto a wheel by her neck 391 00:20:54,458 --> 00:20:56,291 and her thighs and her waist, 392 00:20:56,292 --> 00:20:58,374 and she's got something covering her face. 393 00:20:58,375 --> 00:20:59,666 But to make sure she's comfortable, 394 00:20:59,667 --> 00:21:02,624 you know, while she's strapped by her throat, 395 00:21:02,625 --> 00:21:04,499 they have given her a pillow. 396 00:21:04,500 --> 00:21:06,208 - [Dan] Once she's strapped in, 397 00:21:07,250 --> 00:21:09,707 it's time to start that spin cycle. 398 00:21:09,708 --> 00:21:11,707 - The idea is that the centrifugal force 399 00:21:11,708 --> 00:21:14,499 as this woman is holding on for dear life, 400 00:21:14,500 --> 00:21:17,625 will help eject the baby effortlessly from the womb. 401 00:21:20,167 --> 00:21:22,457 - [Dan] It's a truly bizarre concept, 402 00:21:22,458 --> 00:21:24,499 but could it possibly work? 403 00:21:24,500 --> 00:21:26,582 - The Blonsky's got as far as make it a prototype, 404 00:21:26,583 --> 00:21:29,332 but surprisingly enough they found zero buyers. 405 00:21:29,333 --> 00:21:31,541 Maybe it's because no one wanted the idea 406 00:21:31,542 --> 00:21:32,874 of spinning a mother around 407 00:21:32,875 --> 00:21:36,499 until the baby was ejected from the womb into a net. 408 00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:38,707 - It's pretty clear that Blonsky didn't do the math 409 00:21:38,708 --> 00:21:42,874 because it would require so much rotational speed for a baby 410 00:21:42,875 --> 00:21:45,624 to actually be mechanically shot out of a woman 411 00:21:45,625 --> 00:21:49,542 that both the mother and the baby would probably die. 412 00:21:49,543 --> 00:21:54,166 - Luckily, Blonsky's birthing table was never tested 413 00:21:54,167 --> 00:21:56,124 on humans or animals. 414 00:21:56,125 --> 00:21:59,291 Our next strange experiment involves both 415 00:21:59,292 --> 00:22:02,000 and has some very surprising results. 416 00:22:02,001 --> 00:22:05,457 - Throughout history, there's been a lot of cases 417 00:22:05,458 --> 00:22:07,582 where children are separated from their families 418 00:22:07,583 --> 00:22:11,457 and raised by wolves or bears or other kinds of animals. 419 00:22:11,458 --> 00:22:14,707 - Records of feral child studies get the wheels turning 420 00:22:14,708 --> 00:22:17,416 of psychologist Winthrop Kellogg. 421 00:22:17,417 --> 00:22:22,166 He starts to think, could you compel an animal 422 00:22:22,167 --> 00:22:24,457 to behave as a human, 423 00:22:24,458 --> 00:22:29,292 were it raised exclusively in a human atmosphere? 424 00:22:30,458 --> 00:22:33,082 - So Kellogg brings home a seven month old chimp 425 00:22:33,083 --> 00:22:37,582 named Gua to raise alongside his 10-month old son Donald. 426 00:22:37,583 --> 00:22:41,082 - They get the exact same behavior and treatment, 427 00:22:41,083 --> 00:22:42,874 feeding them the same way, 428 00:22:42,875 --> 00:22:45,541 diapers the same way, playing with them the same way, 429 00:22:45,542 --> 00:22:47,082 having them be playmates. 430 00:22:47,083 --> 00:22:51,833 The Kelloggs are treating their two children identically. 431 00:22:53,250 --> 00:22:55,499 - [Dan] Before long, Gua starts picking up 432 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:57,124 distinctly human skills. 433 00:22:57,125 --> 00:23:00,166 - Gua masters, walking on two legs, wearing shoes, 434 00:23:00,167 --> 00:23:02,416 sitting in a high chair and eating with a spoon. 435 00:23:02,417 --> 00:23:04,874 She begins to understand and respond to commands like, 436 00:23:04,875 --> 00:23:07,874 show me your nose, give Donald a hug. 437 00:23:07,875 --> 00:23:10,707 - After nine months, Gua has excelled at some things, 438 00:23:10,708 --> 00:23:13,624 but she's not made any progress with language. 439 00:23:13,625 --> 00:23:15,249 She's not speaking English. 440 00:23:15,250 --> 00:23:18,207 She can understand things, but she is not moving forward. 441 00:23:18,208 --> 00:23:21,207 - Donald is also slow to speak. 442 00:23:21,208 --> 00:23:23,332 In fact, in some cases, 443 00:23:23,333 --> 00:23:25,416 Donald starts taking on the chimp's behaviors. 444 00:23:25,417 --> 00:23:26,874 For example, when yelling for food 445 00:23:26,875 --> 00:23:29,541 or wanting for food, Donald joins Gua 446 00:23:29,542 --> 00:23:31,582 in pant-hooting and barking. 447 00:23:31,583 --> 00:23:35,457 - So this experiment to elevate a chimpanzee 448 00:23:35,458 --> 00:23:39,874 to human status is actually degrading 449 00:23:39,875 --> 00:23:44,667 his son's learning capabilities down to chimpanzee status. 450 00:23:44,826 --> 00:23:48,916 - The Kellogg's are concerned as Donald 451 00:23:48,917 --> 00:23:52,791 keeps falling behind, they decide to end the experiment 452 00:23:52,792 --> 00:23:55,791 and to return Gua to a primate center to be back 453 00:23:55,792 --> 00:23:58,999 with their group and to allow Donald to move forward 454 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,750 as a normal human child. 455 00:24:02,750 --> 00:24:05,874 - Donald eventually grows up to become a doctor. 456 00:24:05,875 --> 00:24:08,541 Safe to say that probably wouldn't have happened 457 00:24:08,542 --> 00:24:10,667 if the experiment had gone on much longer. 458 00:24:12,069 --> 00:24:16,707 - When testing a new theory, you have to have conviction, 459 00:24:16,708 --> 00:24:18,582 but this ambitious doctor's commitment 460 00:24:18,583 --> 00:24:20,541 to curing disease goes way beyond 461 00:24:20,542 --> 00:24:23,417 what most would consider safe or sane. 462 00:24:26,125 --> 00:24:28,874 - University of Pennsylvania medical trainee, 463 00:24:28,875 --> 00:24:33,249 Stubbins Ffirth wants to write a thesis on yellow fever, 464 00:24:33,250 --> 00:24:37,417 especially about how it can spread from person to person. 465 00:24:37,954 --> 00:24:40,624 - Ffirth actually believes 466 00:24:40,625 --> 00:24:43,458 that yellow fever isn't contagious. 467 00:24:44,375 --> 00:24:46,374 - He cooks up an experiment to prove 468 00:24:46,375 --> 00:24:50,707 that you can't catch yellow fever from someone else, 469 00:24:50,708 --> 00:24:54,499 and that experiment involves the most iconic symptom 470 00:24:54,500 --> 00:24:58,125 of yellow fever, black vomit. 471 00:25:00,375 --> 00:25:02,374 For the first step in the experiment, 472 00:25:02,375 --> 00:25:05,499 Ffirth makes a incision in his arm 473 00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:08,583 and simply pours the black vomit into it. 474 00:25:09,792 --> 00:25:12,457 There's a little bit of inflammation at the site, 475 00:25:12,458 --> 00:25:14,125 but other than that, he's fine. 476 00:25:14,126 --> 00:25:17,916 - What he does next is he takes some vomit 477 00:25:17,917 --> 00:25:19,541 and he mixes it in with water 478 00:25:19,542 --> 00:25:25,207 and he starts to dribble it in his eyes, 479 00:25:25,208 --> 00:25:26,999 and nothing. 480 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:30,499 - Now Ffirth starts to get creative. 481 00:25:30,500 --> 00:25:33,042 He builds a vomit sauna. 482 00:25:34,042 --> 00:25:36,541 He sets himself up in a small closet 483 00:25:36,542 --> 00:25:38,916 and fries up some of the vomit, 484 00:25:38,917 --> 00:25:42,791 create vomit vapors that he inhales deeply over the course 485 00:25:42,792 --> 00:25:48,000 of two hours, still nothing. 486 00:25:49,125 --> 00:25:52,249 - He then goes as far as taking a patient 487 00:25:52,250 --> 00:25:54,874 with essentially end stage yellow fever, 488 00:25:54,875 --> 00:25:57,457 has them throw up directly into a cup 489 00:25:57,458 --> 00:25:58,917 and he drinks it straight up. 490 00:26:03,125 --> 00:26:04,175 He doesn't get it. 491 00:26:04,668 --> 00:26:08,041 - [Dan] But Ffirth is not finished. 492 00:26:08,042 --> 00:26:11,207 He decides he can still take the ick factor up, 493 00:26:11,208 --> 00:26:12,542 all the way up. 494 00:26:13,542 --> 00:26:15,416 - He proceeds to take the vomit 495 00:26:15,417 --> 00:26:17,749 and mix it with other fluids 496 00:26:17,750 --> 00:26:20,457 that have come from a yellow fever patient. 497 00:26:20,458 --> 00:26:23,207 - [Dr. J Mack] He takes their urine, he takes their saliva, 498 00:26:23,208 --> 00:26:24,667 he takes their blood. 499 00:26:24,792 --> 00:26:29,166 - And then proceeds to liberally smear himself from head 500 00:26:29,167 --> 00:26:31,874 to toe, covering himself like the worst cake 501 00:26:31,875 --> 00:26:33,832 you've ever seen in your life, 502 00:26:33,833 --> 00:26:36,833 all over every inch of his body. 503 00:26:38,500 --> 00:26:41,999 Stubbins Ffirth still walks away, 504 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,208 not having succumbed to any yellow fever. 505 00:26:46,500 --> 00:26:49,374 - And he writes up his work in a paper, 506 00:26:49,375 --> 00:26:53,541 a treatise on malignant fever with an attempt to prove 507 00:26:53,542 --> 00:26:56,041 that it is not contagious. 508 00:26:56,042 --> 00:26:57,832 - [Dan] While Ffirth did clearly prove 509 00:26:57,833 --> 00:27:01,207 you can't catch yellow fever by frolicking in black vomit, 510 00:27:01,208 --> 00:27:03,958 his thesis still has some sticking points. 511 00:27:04,750 --> 00:27:06,207 - So Ffirth was right, 512 00:27:06,208 --> 00:27:08,832 that yellow fever is not directly transmitted 513 00:27:08,833 --> 00:27:12,207 from person to person, but he was wrong in thinking that 514 00:27:12,208 --> 00:27:15,624 it was caused by exposure to excessive heat. 515 00:27:15,625 --> 00:27:18,874 We know this because six decades later in 1881, 516 00:27:18,875 --> 00:27:21,874 Cuban scientist Carlos Finlay proves 517 00:27:21,875 --> 00:27:24,999 that yellow fever is transmitted from person to person 518 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,457 by mosquitoes. 519 00:27:26,458 --> 00:27:28,874 - Ffirth went all in for medicine. 520 00:27:28,875 --> 00:27:31,874 200 years later, another man does the same, 521 00:27:31,875 --> 00:27:35,750 only now it's not disease he's fighting, it's time. 522 00:27:37,542 --> 00:27:42,292 - Billionaire Bryan Johnson is a rejuvenation athlete. 523 00:27:43,750 --> 00:27:45,082 Everything in his life, 524 00:27:45,083 --> 00:27:48,582 everything he does is focused on one goal, 525 00:27:48,583 --> 00:27:51,250 staying young and prolonging his life. 526 00:27:52,333 --> 00:27:55,207 - He takes 111 supplements every single day. 527 00:27:55,208 --> 00:27:59,166 He goes to sleep at the exact same time every night. 528 00:27:59,167 --> 00:28:03,291 - He sleeps alone in a dark room with blackout curtains. 529 00:28:03,292 --> 00:28:05,291 He wears blue light glasses. 530 00:28:05,292 --> 00:28:07,207 - [Dan] But there's one crucial piece of his routine 531 00:28:07,208 --> 00:28:11,041 he believes will keep him young forever. 532 00:28:11,042 --> 00:28:15,207 - He's spending his billions on blood transfusions, 533 00:28:15,208 --> 00:28:19,207 to the tune of $2 million per year. 534 00:28:19,208 --> 00:28:21,874 - Every 30 days he gets a blood transfusion, 535 00:28:21,875 --> 00:28:25,541 not just from anyone but from someone young, in good shape 536 00:28:25,542 --> 00:28:28,874 because he believes that young blood is gonna give him 537 00:28:28,875 --> 00:28:32,707 the energy and the power he needs to avoid aging. 538 00:28:32,708 --> 00:28:35,249 - But then he thinks, why go to strangers? 539 00:28:35,250 --> 00:28:37,917 I have a ready made blood supply at home, 540 00:28:38,958 --> 00:28:41,499 my 17-year-old son, Talmadge. 541 00:28:41,500 --> 00:28:42,874 - How are you? 542 00:28:42,875 --> 00:28:45,082 Do you wanna bite a super veggie? 543 00:28:45,083 --> 00:28:47,707 - [Dan] Every month the teen donates a liter of blood 544 00:28:47,708 --> 00:28:49,332 to his father. 545 00:28:49,333 --> 00:28:51,917 That's a fifth of the entire human body's supply. 546 00:28:51,918 --> 00:28:55,207 - Johnson wants to be fair about all of this, 547 00:28:55,208 --> 00:28:58,833 so he donates his plasma to his father. 548 00:28:58,834 --> 00:29:02,082 - [Dan] It's the world's first ever intergenerational 549 00:29:02,083 --> 00:29:04,791 blood transfusion experiment. 550 00:29:04,792 --> 00:29:06,916 - It probably sounds a little crazy. 551 00:29:06,917 --> 00:29:09,916 It probably sounds like it couldn't possibly work. 552 00:29:09,917 --> 00:29:13,333 The thing is, it kind of does, at least in mice. 553 00:29:14,792 --> 00:29:17,832 - Researchers at UC San Francisco transfused blood 554 00:29:17,833 --> 00:29:20,624 from young mice into older mice 555 00:29:20,625 --> 00:29:22,874 and those older mice get some benefits 556 00:29:22,875 --> 00:29:24,375 to get a little bit more energy. 557 00:29:24,376 --> 00:29:26,666 Actually, some of their muscles are working a little better. 558 00:29:26,667 --> 00:29:29,916 So clearly something is going on here. 559 00:29:29,917 --> 00:29:33,250 - [Dan] Still, this starts to get old, even for Johnson. 560 00:29:34,708 --> 00:29:36,208 - After six treatments, 561 00:29:36,209 --> 00:29:39,041 Johnson decides he's not getting the results that he wants, 562 00:29:39,042 --> 00:29:43,832 so he switches to a new treatment, shock therapy, 563 00:29:43,833 --> 00:29:46,958 but not to his brain, to his genitals. 564 00:29:48,292 --> 00:29:52,916 - He receives acoustic shockwave therapy on his genitals 565 00:29:52,917 --> 00:29:55,832 three to five times a month. 566 00:29:55,833 --> 00:29:59,874 He says that the pain is a nine out of 10, 567 00:29:59,875 --> 00:30:04,542 but it has decreased the age of his penis by 15 years. 568 00:30:07,208 --> 00:30:10,207 - I'm not sure how Johnson measures these findings, 569 00:30:10,208 --> 00:30:12,078 but that's one treatment I'd pass on. 570 00:30:14,238 --> 00:30:17,541 - As the Cold War heats up in the 1960s, 571 00:30:17,542 --> 00:30:20,874 so do the experiments, from poison tipped umbrellas 572 00:30:20,875 --> 00:30:23,999 to a plot targeting Fidel Castro's beard. 573 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,917 Nothing was off the table, not even cats. 574 00:30:29,042 --> 00:30:31,916 - The idea behind Project Acoustic Kitty 575 00:30:31,917 --> 00:30:34,957 is that cats are pretty innocuous 576 00:30:34,958 --> 00:30:38,124 and they can roam around lots of places 577 00:30:38,125 --> 00:30:39,916 without concerning anybody. 578 00:30:39,917 --> 00:30:42,541 So if the cats can get themselves close enough 579 00:30:42,542 --> 00:30:44,332 to private conversations, 580 00:30:44,333 --> 00:30:47,374 they might be able to overhear important information. 581 00:30:47,375 --> 00:30:50,249 - Now the cat's not gonna just go into a CIA debrief 582 00:30:50,250 --> 00:30:53,166 and say the subject said this, the cat's not gonna do that. 583 00:30:53,167 --> 00:30:56,958 So the cat is turned into a living listening device. 584 00:30:58,417 --> 00:31:02,207 - The CIA pumps $20 million into training 585 00:31:02,208 --> 00:31:05,375 and preparing cats that can be these spies. 586 00:31:06,833 --> 00:31:08,332 - In order to make this work, 587 00:31:08,333 --> 00:31:11,207 the CIA has to figure out a way to implant 588 00:31:11,208 --> 00:31:13,249 this listening device into the cat. 589 00:31:13,250 --> 00:31:16,874 And what they end up having to do is do surgery. 590 00:31:16,875 --> 00:31:19,166 They put the listening device in the ear 591 00:31:19,167 --> 00:31:22,291 and put a transmitter at the base of the animal's skull 592 00:31:22,292 --> 00:31:25,832 and then run the antenna down an incision on the cat's back 593 00:31:25,833 --> 00:31:27,791 so that it's hidden by the fur. 594 00:31:27,792 --> 00:31:29,602 Not really fun for the cat, I'm sure. 595 00:31:31,417 --> 00:31:33,666 - [Dan] With the cat wired up and trained, 596 00:31:33,667 --> 00:31:37,624 it's time for this Secret Agent's first assignment. 597 00:31:37,625 --> 00:31:39,207 - The goal is for the cat 598 00:31:39,208 --> 00:31:42,166 to eavesdrop on two men sitting on a park bench 599 00:31:42,167 --> 00:31:43,875 outside of the Soviet Embassy. 600 00:31:45,292 --> 00:31:48,122 So the CIA agents drive up with the cat in their white van. 601 00:31:49,458 --> 00:31:52,957 - They get the cat ready, they issue the cat the command, 602 00:31:52,958 --> 00:31:54,207 it knows where to go. 603 00:31:54,208 --> 00:31:56,791 They open the van, the cat jumps out. 604 00:31:56,792 --> 00:31:59,417 - And it immediately gets hit by a taxi. 605 00:32:00,750 --> 00:32:03,624 $20 million out the window. 606 00:32:03,625 --> 00:32:05,207 With all of this research, 607 00:32:05,208 --> 00:32:07,166 they never think, hey, you know what 608 00:32:07,167 --> 00:32:09,124 we should pull over on the same side of the street 609 00:32:09,125 --> 00:32:11,041 that the cat has to get out. 610 00:32:11,042 --> 00:32:12,207 - [Dan] And just what, 611 00:32:12,208 --> 00:32:15,207 does the CIA after action report identify 612 00:32:15,208 --> 00:32:18,417 as the fatal flaw in an otherwise excellent plan? 613 00:32:19,708 --> 00:32:21,624 - Quote, cats are not trainable 614 00:32:21,625 --> 00:32:24,207 and they don't have the same deep seated desire 615 00:32:24,208 --> 00:32:27,917 to please a human master as a dog does. 616 00:32:28,334 --> 00:32:31,332 - Cats aren't the only animals 617 00:32:31,333 --> 00:32:33,249 science has put through the ringer. 618 00:32:33,250 --> 00:32:35,541 Dogs have had their turn too. 619 00:32:35,542 --> 00:32:37,916 Especially one unlucky pair 620 00:32:37,917 --> 00:32:40,583 that end up sharing more than just a leash. 621 00:32:41,542 --> 00:32:44,458 [suspenseful music] 622 00:32:46,625 --> 00:32:51,457 - It is the height of the Cold War and a Soviet surgeon 623 00:32:51,458 --> 00:32:55,207 named Vladimir Demikhov begins to probe questions 624 00:32:55,208 --> 00:33:00,041 of how far you can go with organ transplants. 625 00:33:00,042 --> 00:33:03,166 - Vladimir Demikhov is actually one of the pioneers 626 00:33:03,167 --> 00:33:04,541 of transplant surgery. 627 00:33:04,542 --> 00:33:07,874 He's transplanting hearts and lungs between dogs 628 00:33:07,875 --> 00:33:09,874 and he is doing it as a good doctor, 629 00:33:09,875 --> 00:33:12,208 doing really meaningful, good work. 630 00:33:13,542 --> 00:33:16,041 - [Dan] Vladimir Demikhov's next goal, 631 00:33:16,042 --> 00:33:19,249 a full head transplant on a dog. 632 00:33:19,250 --> 00:33:21,457 But since he's never done it before, 633 00:33:21,458 --> 00:33:24,332 he needs to experiment a little first. 634 00:33:24,333 --> 00:33:26,916 - Demikhov and his team essentially do an experiment 635 00:33:26,917 --> 00:33:28,791 of creating a two-headed dog. 636 00:33:28,792 --> 00:33:33,832 He wants to be able to see if he is able to take one head 637 00:33:33,833 --> 00:33:38,625 and graft that onto another, and if he can keep that alive. 638 00:33:40,125 --> 00:33:44,708 - He arranges to experiment with this on two dogs, 639 00:33:45,958 --> 00:33:49,249 one smaller 9-year-old dog named Shavka 640 00:33:49,250 --> 00:33:54,041 and one stray larger German Shepherd named Brodyaga. 641 00:33:54,042 --> 00:33:56,541 - Vladimir detaches Shavka's head 642 00:33:56,542 --> 00:34:01,542 and he attaches Shavka's head to Brodyaga's vertebrae. 643 00:34:03,583 --> 00:34:05,541 - [Dan] Three and a half hours later, 644 00:34:05,542 --> 00:34:08,292 the two-headed dog experiment is complete, 645 00:34:09,208 --> 00:34:11,000 but does it actually work? 646 00:34:11,917 --> 00:34:13,541 - It sounds awful. 647 00:34:13,542 --> 00:34:15,457 She's just the head attached to this body, 648 00:34:15,458 --> 00:34:19,374 but she eats, she drinks, she barks. 649 00:34:19,375 --> 00:34:23,291 - [Dan] Vladimir's two-headed dog only lives for four days, 650 00:34:23,292 --> 00:34:28,167 but that doesn't stop him from trying again and again. 651 00:34:28,625 --> 00:34:32,832 - He does these exact kinds of experiments 23 more times 652 00:34:32,833 --> 00:34:35,708 between 1954 and 1959. 653 00:34:35,709 --> 00:34:39,457 And even though none of them are actually a success, 654 00:34:39,458 --> 00:34:42,291 he firmly believes that he's proving to the world 655 00:34:42,292 --> 00:34:44,292 that head transplants are possible. 656 00:34:46,208 --> 00:34:47,707 - Perhaps it's for the best, 657 00:34:47,708 --> 00:34:50,707 Vladimir's two headed dog experiment didn't work out. 658 00:34:50,708 --> 00:34:54,333 It would've made playing fetch very complicated. 659 00:34:56,751 --> 00:34:59,416 - Some of the most iconic books 660 00:34:59,417 --> 00:35:00,874 and films feature tales of the undead, 661 00:35:00,875 --> 00:35:02,332 but what might surprise you is 662 00:35:02,333 --> 00:35:05,125 how many of them were inspired by real life science. 663 00:35:06,750 --> 00:35:08,541 - It's 1803 in Italy, 664 00:35:08,542 --> 00:35:11,999 a 40-year-old researcher named Giovanni Aldini 665 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,291 is on a mission to prove a theory 666 00:35:14,292 --> 00:35:19,292 that the human body runs on its own electrical current. 667 00:35:19,833 --> 00:35:21,291 - And he believes 668 00:35:21,292 --> 00:35:23,124 that if there is already an electrical current 669 00:35:23,125 --> 00:35:27,624 within the body, that by subjecting a dead body 670 00:35:27,625 --> 00:35:29,249 to electrical current, 671 00:35:29,250 --> 00:35:32,708 you can very possibly reanimate the dead. 672 00:35:34,292 --> 00:35:37,041 Aldini decides he wants to get a body on the up and up, 673 00:35:37,042 --> 00:35:39,207 and he reaches out to local prisons 674 00:35:39,208 --> 00:35:41,374 to try to acquire the corpse 675 00:35:41,375 --> 00:35:44,624 of a recently executed prisoner. 676 00:35:44,625 --> 00:35:46,041 - Lucky for Aldini, 677 00:35:46,042 --> 00:35:49,166 a man named George Foster has been sentenced to death 678 00:35:49,167 --> 00:35:52,041 and they're willing to give Aldini, Foster's body, 679 00:35:52,042 --> 00:35:53,625 fresh from the gallows. 680 00:35:54,542 --> 00:35:56,249 - The execution goes as planned. 681 00:35:56,250 --> 00:35:58,541 Aldini acquires the body. 682 00:35:58,542 --> 00:36:01,791 And then at London's Royal Academy of Surgeons, 683 00:36:01,792 --> 00:36:05,874 he schedules a real event to showcase his theory 684 00:36:05,875 --> 00:36:08,542 with this freshly dead body. 685 00:36:09,792 --> 00:36:11,874 - The theater is packed with the best 686 00:36:11,875 --> 00:36:13,207 and brightest of the day, 687 00:36:13,208 --> 00:36:16,374 and everyone in the Oval Theater has their eyes 688 00:36:16,375 --> 00:36:20,874 on the wooden slab where Foster's body is lying, 689 00:36:20,875 --> 00:36:22,292 covered by a white sheet. 690 00:36:23,375 --> 00:36:26,082 - [Dan] Aldini rips the sheet from Foster's body 691 00:36:26,083 --> 00:36:28,582 as a hush falls over the room. 692 00:36:28,583 --> 00:36:31,666 - Aldini picks up prods that are connected by wires 693 00:36:31,667 --> 00:36:33,707 to a zinc battery. 694 00:36:33,708 --> 00:36:37,499 The electricity flows forth, he approaches the body 695 00:36:37,500 --> 00:36:40,707 and the crowd is on the edge of their seats. 696 00:36:40,708 --> 00:36:43,916 He touches the prod to the dead man's face. 697 00:36:43,917 --> 00:36:47,957 The dead man, George Foster opens one of his eyes, 698 00:36:47,958 --> 00:36:52,332 then Aldini takes the prod and puts it in his nether regions 699 00:36:52,333 --> 00:36:54,292 and his whole body convulses. 700 00:36:55,500 --> 00:36:57,916 - George Foster's arm then goes up in the air, 701 00:36:57,917 --> 00:36:59,374 his legs are starting to move. 702 00:36:59,375 --> 00:37:02,124 The entire audience thinks that the deceased 703 00:37:02,125 --> 00:37:03,708 is about to stand up. 704 00:37:05,292 --> 00:37:10,332 - [Dan] And then Aldini's battery dies 705 00:37:10,333 --> 00:37:11,708 and the experiment ends. 706 00:37:11,709 --> 00:37:15,541 But while George Foster doesn't come back to life, 707 00:37:15,542 --> 00:37:17,792 Aldini's legacy does live on. 708 00:37:18,625 --> 00:37:20,416 - The experiments do indicate 709 00:37:20,417 --> 00:37:23,416 that electricity can at least stimulate dead tissue. 710 00:37:23,417 --> 00:37:25,916 That part of the experiment is a success. 711 00:37:25,917 --> 00:37:27,832 - As bizarre as the Aldini experiment is, 712 00:37:27,833 --> 00:37:31,374 he's credited with pioneering electrotherapy as we know it, 713 00:37:31,375 --> 00:37:33,041 as a modality of treatment. 714 00:37:33,042 --> 00:37:37,582 But there's also another thing that he is credited with. 715 00:37:37,583 --> 00:37:41,957 Mary Shelley wrote the book, Frankenstein, 10 years 716 00:37:41,958 --> 00:37:43,957 after the Aldini experiment. 717 00:37:43,958 --> 00:37:47,749 Frankenstein in which a dead body is reanimated 718 00:37:47,750 --> 00:37:52,208 with electrical impulses, sounds very familiar. 719 00:37:54,167 --> 00:37:56,582 - Aldini failed to bring back a whole body, 720 00:37:56,583 --> 00:37:59,874 but another strange mind focused on bringing back 721 00:37:59,875 --> 00:38:01,500 just one piece. 722 00:38:02,875 --> 00:38:06,791 - In 1874, Alexander Graham Bell is a 27-year-old up 723 00:38:06,792 --> 00:38:10,166 and coming inventor studying acoustics at MIT. 724 00:38:10,167 --> 00:38:13,375 As a day job, he is a teacher at the school for the deaf. 725 00:38:14,833 --> 00:38:19,499 - At the time, the deaf are seen and treated as outsiders. 726 00:38:19,500 --> 00:38:22,332 There is no tried and true method yet 727 00:38:22,333 --> 00:38:24,374 to teach the deaf to speak in a way 728 00:38:24,375 --> 00:38:27,207 that softens their sometimes harsh tones 729 00:38:27,208 --> 00:38:29,957 when they try to produce audible speech. 730 00:38:29,958 --> 00:38:32,874 - They're unable to hear the sounds that they're making 731 00:38:32,875 --> 00:38:36,374 and thus are unable to refine those sounds. 732 00:38:36,375 --> 00:38:38,749 - He starts to think that if he could figure out a way 733 00:38:38,750 --> 00:38:41,207 for his students to visualize sound, 734 00:38:41,208 --> 00:38:43,207 then maybe they'll understand it 735 00:38:43,208 --> 00:38:44,838 and figure out a way to repeat it. 736 00:38:45,958 --> 00:38:48,541 - He's fascinated by the way the human ear works. 737 00:38:48,542 --> 00:38:51,582 Sound enters the ear, it vibrates 738 00:38:51,583 --> 00:38:53,624 and every different kind of sound makes it vibrate 739 00:38:53,625 --> 00:38:55,082 a little differently. 740 00:38:55,083 --> 00:38:58,792 He wants to somehow capture that vibration visually. 741 00:39:00,500 --> 00:39:02,499 - [Dan] To bring his vision to life, 742 00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:05,166 Bell looks to the human body itself. 743 00:39:05,167 --> 00:39:07,582 - Bell wants to base his invention off of the anatomy 744 00:39:07,583 --> 00:39:09,541 of an actual human ear. 745 00:39:09,542 --> 00:39:12,374 So he talks to his colleague, Dr. Clarence Blake, 746 00:39:12,375 --> 00:39:15,374 who has an interesting idea. 747 00:39:15,375 --> 00:39:18,999 Why not use an actual human ear for this invention? 748 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,750 So he suggests using a dead person's ear. 749 00:39:22,833 --> 00:39:25,541 - Bell's friend Dr. Clarence Blake 750 00:39:25,542 --> 00:39:28,041 works with medical cadavers. 751 00:39:28,042 --> 00:39:31,916 He procures a human ear 752 00:39:31,917 --> 00:39:35,457 that has been preserved so that it's innards, 753 00:39:35,458 --> 00:39:38,750 including the ear drum, are still intact. 754 00:39:39,750 --> 00:39:41,749 - [Dan] Now that Bell has his ear, 755 00:39:41,750 --> 00:39:45,332 he can build his prototype and start testing it out. 756 00:39:45,333 --> 00:39:49,749 - Bell fixes the ear to a stalk of hay. 757 00:39:49,750 --> 00:39:53,791 The stalk of hay travels from the eardrum 758 00:39:53,792 --> 00:39:58,792 to a plate that's covered with a thin layer of charcoal. 759 00:39:58,793 --> 00:40:02,791 - [Dan] His theory is that when sound hits the eardrum, 760 00:40:02,792 --> 00:40:04,624 the vibration will cause the hay 761 00:40:04,625 --> 00:40:07,417 to draw a unique pattern into the charcoal. 762 00:40:08,625 --> 00:40:10,915 - Bell begins speaking into this ear trumpet 763 00:40:13,958 --> 00:40:15,541 and it works. 764 00:40:15,542 --> 00:40:18,041 When the vibrations of sound hit the ear drum, 765 00:40:18,042 --> 00:40:22,332 it ends up moving the hay, thus drawing wave forms 766 00:40:22,333 --> 00:40:26,041 in the charcoal and each one of those waveforms is unique 767 00:40:26,042 --> 00:40:28,541 to the letter or the word that he's saying. 768 00:40:28,542 --> 00:40:31,917 - Next Bell performs the experiment with his students. 769 00:40:32,875 --> 00:40:35,541 He speaks an A into the device 770 00:40:35,542 --> 00:40:38,707 and the students can see the shape of a proper A. 771 00:40:38,708 --> 00:40:41,791 - Now the students can speak into the device themselves, 772 00:40:41,792 --> 00:40:45,916 create their own shape of sound and match it against Bell's. 773 00:40:45,917 --> 00:40:47,749 - [Dan] Bell calls the new device, 774 00:40:47,750 --> 00:40:49,791 the Dead Ear Phonautograph. 775 00:40:49,792 --> 00:40:54,791 - Not only does this device dramatically assist 776 00:40:54,792 --> 00:40:57,374 deaf people in communicating, 777 00:40:57,375 --> 00:41:02,542 but it forms the germination of Bell's most famous device, 778 00:41:03,042 --> 00:41:04,582 the telephone. 779 00:41:04,583 --> 00:41:06,249 - He begins to theorize that you could use the sound 780 00:41:06,250 --> 00:41:08,832 of your voice to create an electrical current 781 00:41:08,833 --> 00:41:11,291 to send your voice down a telegraph wire. 782 00:41:11,292 --> 00:41:15,458 And voila, two years later, the invention of the telephone. 783 00:41:15,459 --> 00:41:18,416 - When you're strapping microphones 784 00:41:18,417 --> 00:41:21,666 to cats raising chimps like children or sipping viral vomit 785 00:41:21,667 --> 00:41:23,249 in the name of research, 786 00:41:23,250 --> 00:41:26,582 you've crossed the line from science into something else. 787 00:41:26,583 --> 00:41:29,041 These aren't just bizarre footnotes in history. 788 00:41:29,042 --> 00:41:32,207 They've earned their place as the very best 789 00:41:32,208 --> 00:41:33,500 of The Unbelievable . 790 00:41:33,550 --> 00:41:38,100 Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0