1The Ubaid Lizard Men
The Al Ubaid archeological site in Iraq has yielded numerous objects from a pre-Sumerian time called the Ubaid period (5900–4000 B.C.). Some of the objects found here depict strange, lizard-like humanoid figures in unique, unceremonious poses that seem to indicate they were not gods. These statues have been drawn into stories and theories of reptilian aliens that used to roam the earth. Although this seems unlikely, their true nature remains a mystery.
2Joseph Barcroft Experiments
British physiologist Joseph Barcroft known for his studies on blood oxygenation never hesitated to use himself as a test subject. He once gassed himself to an atmosphere of poisonous hydrogen cyanide for a full 10 minutes and survived. The dog with him lasted only 95 seconds before dying. To find the minimum oxygen level needed to survive, he lived in an oxygen level found at 4,900 meters for a week, causing his whole body to turn blue. He once locked himself in a refrigerated chamber to test the effects of freezing. He chose to stay until he became unconscious and had to be rescued. He discovered that at a certain point close to lethal hypothermia, the human body begins to feel warm rather than freezing cold.
3Stuck on Toilet
In 2008, a man named Kory McFarren called on the authorities in Wichita, Kansas stating there was “something wrong” with his girlfriend. When the authorities arrived, they were horrified to find 35-year-old Pam Babcock who had been sitting on her boyfriend’s toilet for over two years. Her skin had grown around the seat. Paramedics were forced to remove the seat which was surgically removed at the hospital. Though her boyfriend maintained that due to her tough childhood, she felt safe in the bathroom and never left, he was sentenced to 6 months of probation for waiting so long to seek help.
4Longest Tapeworm
Japan is home to the world’s only parasite museum. It houses one of the most extreme parasites ever discovered by medical science, the longest tapeworm. The 8.8-meter (28 ft) Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense was removed from the stomach of a Japanese man who complained of stomach pains after eating trout. Alongside the display, is a piece of rope with an identical length and girth so that visitors can have tactile aid to see just how terrifyingly long it is.
5Trichobezoar
A trichobezoar is a medical term for a damp wad of undigested hair, moistened by bile and other digestive fluids also known as a hairball. Though uncommon in humans, hairballs have been reported and often associated with trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling). In 2014, a teenage girl in Kyrgyzstan had to undergo a surgery to remove a 9-pound hairball from her stomach. She had a nasty habit of picking up hair from the carpet and eating it. In another case, in 2012, doctors in India removed a hairball weighing nearly four pounds from the stomach of a 19-year-old girl.
6Teeth in Food
All it really takes is one freak accident at some point in the manufacturing process and you may end up with teeth in your food. Human teeth have been found in canned food, sausages, and ice creams. An Australian man nearly choked on a gold tooth in his Mars bar. One man sued Kraft Foods in 2006 for making him physically and mentally ill. He said his symptoms started when he bit into a large rodent tooth that was in hiding in his Planter’s peanuts.
7Mark Quinn
Every five years artist Mark Quinn makes a bust of his head using his own frozen blood. Each cast takes 10 pints of blood which is collected from his body over a period of five months before being frozen. There is one specimen on permanent refrigerated display at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
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8Edith Casas
Johana, a model, who was just days away from her 20th birthday was found dead in 2010. Her body was found in a field near Pico Truncado, in Argentina. She had been shot twice in the head. Her former boyfriend Victor Cingolani was convicted of Johana’s murder and sentenced to 13 years in jail. Another woman named Edith Casas ended up marrying Victor in 2013, while he was still incarcerated for the murder of Johana. Edith Casas was the twin sister of Johana Casas and despite Edith’s parents intervening and courts demanding her mental evaluation, she went ahead with marrying her twin sister’s murderer.
9Trepanning
Trepanning is the surgical process of drilling a small hole in the skull to increase blood flow to the brain. Regarded as a pseudoscience, many believe it can elevate consciousness and bring back a childhood state of imagination and perception. About 5-10% of surviving Stone Age skulls have holes in them from trepanning. Needless to say, such exposure of the brain to airborne germs would often be fatal. Even John Lennon tried to convince Paul McCartney to drill a hole in his skull explaining “All you’d have to do is just bore a little hole in your skull and it lets the pressure off.”
10Hemorrhoids
Everyone currently has hemorrhoids. They’re just not inflamed. St. Fiarce is the patron saint of hemorrhoids. He miraculously cured his inflamed anus by placing it upon a blessed rock. The stone survives to this day, imprinted with his holy hole, and many still flock to it hoping to cure themselves. It was once believed that if a person did not pray to St. Fiacre, they’d suffer from hemorrhoids. To treat them, the monks put a red-hot iron up the anus. To never experience inflamed hemorrhoids in your life, you should avoid sitting on the toilet for too long, straining, and holding your breath while making bowel movements.
