WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SPOOKIEST EXPERIMENTS WE'VE EVER DONE?

Although science often advances through tried-and-tested methods, sometimes scientists have to find creative ways to test their hypotheses. Here are five of the wackiest science experiments ever conducted...

- BARNEY REED, LICHFIELD

LEVITATING FROGS

Everything has its own magnetic field, however small. This means that, theoretically, any object would be repelled by a sufficiently strong magnet. Scientists dramatically demonstrated this fact in 1997, when they used a high-powered magnet to levitate a live frog. The frog was unharmed by the experience, but research into this phenomenon (called 'diamagnetic levitation') has many potential applications, from medical imaging to space technology.

TURNING WATER INTO METAL

Ancient alchemists would have marvelled at this 2021 experiment, which briefly turned water into a shiny, metallic substance.

Metals conduct electricity because they contain 'free electrons', which aren't bound to an atom. In contrast, pure water isn't conductive because the electrons are tightly bound to their atoms. Theoretically, water is conductive under extremely high pressure, because the molecules are squished together, creating an overlap between their outer electron orbits.