Thread: Two Bats and Switching Their Heads

I'm having trouble finding the bat experiment that Nazi Germany did years ago. It was an experiment to show that the spirit does not exist by switching the heads of two bats. They survived for a short amount of time after the switch in which the eyes moved or something like that. Does anyone know anything about this experiment? I can't find any information about it on the web. I don't really remember what the experiment was called, but I saw it on the History Channel once about a year ago. If anyone could help me find information on it, that would be much appreciated.

Nevermind, I found a related article. Not from Nazi Germany or switching bat heads, but switching the heads of monkeys. If you're interested in seeing some of this, at the bottom of the page is a link to a number of bizarre experiments. Monkey-Head Transplant is at eleven (11). I'll post what it says:


11] Monkey-Head Transplant

When Vladimir Demikhov unveiled his two-headed dogs in 1954, it inspired a strange kind of surgical arms race (or rather, head race) between the two superpowers. Eager to prove that its surgeons were actually the best in the world, the American government began funding the work of Robert White, who then embarked on a series of experimental surgeries, performed at his brain research center in Cleveland, Ohio, resulting in the world’s first successful monkey-head transplant.

The head transplant occurred on March 14, 1970. It took White and his assistants hours to perform the carefully choreographed operation, separating a monkey’s head from its body and reattaching it to a new body. When the monkey woke and found that its body had been switched for a new one, it angrily tracked White with its eyes and snapped at him with its teeth. The monkey survived a day and a half before succumbing to complications from the surgery. As bad as it was for the monkey, it could have been worse. White noted that, from a surgical point of view, it would have been easier to put the monkey’s head on backwards.

White thought he should have been treated like a hero, but instead the public was appalled by what he had done. Nevertheless, White soldiered on, campaigning to raise support for a human head transplant. He toured with Craig Vetovitz, a near-quadriplegic, who volunteered to be the first to undergo the procedure. The public is still a long way from accepting the idea of human head transplants, but if White has his way, one day it will happen.


reference - http://www.curiousread.com/2009/02/m...-all-time.html

Reminds me of a line from one Skinny Puppy song (collaborating with the Severed Heads incidentally): "If you cut off my head, what will I be? Me and my head, or me and my body?" Years later this question arose at a day-care, when we built toy men with double heads, missing heads, etc. The children were unanimous that the body makes the individual. From a biological perspective, I concede they're right... though they didn't mention reproduction.

Originally Posted by korben

11] Monkey-Head Transplant

When Vladimir Demikhov unveiled his two-headed dogs in 1954, it inspired a strange kind of surgical arms race (or rather, head race) between the two superpowers. Eager to prove that its surgeons were actually the best in the world, the American government began funding the work of Robert White, who then embarked on a series of experimental surgeries, performed at his brain research center in Cleveland, Ohio, resulting in the world’s first successful monkey-head transplant.

The head transplant occurred on March 14, 1970. It took White and his assistants hours to perform the carefully choreographed operation, separating a monkey’s head from its body and reattaching it to a new body. When the monkey woke and found that its body had been switched for a new one, it angrily tracked White with its eyes and snapped at him with its teeth. The monkey survived a day and a half before succumbing to complications from the surgery. As bad as it was for the monkey, it could have been worse. White noted that, from a surgical point of view, it would have been easier to put the monkey’s head on backwards.

White thought he should have been treated like a hero, but instead the public was appalled by what he had done. Nevertheless, White soldiered on, campaigning to raise support for a human head transplant. He toured with Craig Vetovitz, a near-quadriplegic, who volunteered to be the first to undergo the procedure. The public is still a long way from accepting the idea of human head transplants, but if White has his way, one day it will happen.


reference - http://www.curiousread.com/2009/02/m...-all-time.html

I know this experiment, I've seen a documentary about it. Truly fascinating if you ask me.... He connected two monkeys and switched their heads! How cool is that?! (^_^)

I've found some videos on the subject.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8On7rktFZME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdJGlYOL0r4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEcUT...eature=related


p.s. Don't get mad at me because your meal doesn't look as good after watching.

The story of this experiment seems dubious to me, much like this pamphlet I found on the Boston subway. Like a fantastical feat of science that gets a lot of press, but you're thinking, "really??"

LINK REMOVED