Worst Jobs in Science

Phil25 · 09-18-2003, 11:17 AM

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,12543,484153,00.html

Quote:

Odor judges are com-mon in the research labs of mouthwash companies, where the halitosis-inflicted blow great gusts of breath in their faces to test product efficacy. But Minneapolis gastroenterologist Michael Levitt recently took the job to another level—or, rather, to the other end. Levitt paid two brave souls to indulge repeatedly in the odors of other people's farts. (Levitt refuses to divulge the remuneration, but it would seem safe to characterize it thusly: Not enough.) Sixteen healthy subjects volunteered to eat pinto beans and insert small plastic collection tubes into their anuses (worst-job runners-up, to be sure). After each "episode of flatulence," Levitt syringed the gas into a discrete container, rigorously maintaining fart integrity. The odor judges then sat down with at least 100 samples, opened the caps one at a time, and inhaled robustly. As their faces writhed in agony, they rated just how noxious the smell was. The samples were also chemically analyzed, and—eureka!—Levitt determined definitively the most malodorous component of the human flatus: hydrogen sulfide.

Warning: Not for the faint of heart {number 3 is hilarious}

Zygomaticus · 09-18-2003, 11:30 AM

*d

Lmao! :d

remixor · 09-18-2003, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil25

number 3

Intrepid Homoludens · 09-18-2003, 01:54 PM

Looks like we live in interesting times after all, remix-n-match.

LauraMac · 09-18-2003, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Levitt paid two brave souls to indulge repeatedly in the odors of other people's farts.

There are some things even lab rats won't do

Royal Fool · 09-18-2003, 03:00 PM

I found nr. 6, 11 and 13 truly hilarious. Also, this little bit:

Quote:

Physician Robert Mayer (1814?1878) conceived the first law of thermodynamics but got no credit because he was unable to express it mathematically. Shattered, he leapt out a window, but survived.

09-18-2003, 01:54 PM	#4
Intrepid Homoludens merely human Last Online: 05-17-2012 02:26 AM Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 22,309	Looks like we live in interesting times after all, remix-n-match. __________________ platform: laptop, iPhone 3Gs \| gaming: x360, PS3, psp, iPhone, wii \| blog: a space alien \| book: the moral landscape: how science can determine human values by sam harris \| games: l.a.noire, portal 2, brink, dragon age 2, heavy rain \| sites: NPR, skeptoid, gaygamer \| music: ray lamontagne, adele, washed out, james blake \| twitter: a_space_alien

09-18-2003, 11:30 AM	#2
Zygomaticus Liver of Life Last Online: 02-28-2011 10:31 PM Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,317	*d Lmao! :d