What are some of the most outrageous experiments ever conducted in the pursuit of scientific knowledge?

I suggest that you read the Annual “Darwin Awards” publications!

However, in my HS junior year, my science-fiction-informed best friend chose to explore hypothermia. He was convinced that he could freeze a living creature into “suspended animation” then restore it to life with gentle warming.

All early experiments with mice failed. He formed two hypotheses:

Freezing had to occur faster.

He switched from ice to cry ice (solid CO2).

Warming had to occur faster, but from the inside out to prevent charring of skin.

He switched from a hair dryer to a kitchen oven. No joy.

Then he tried a microwave oven.

This was in 1969, and his older sister owned one of only two microwave ovens in the town. They cost about $1500 each at the time.

Well, the mouse-cube was placed on a plate in the Amana RadarRange, and nuked!

Two minutes later, the RadarRange was evenly coated with exploded mouse brains and guts!

Smelling the newly fried rat, the Sister threw out the microwave oven together with her younger brother!

By the day of the science fair, my buddy had moved from mice to goldfish, and achieved hypothermic immobility and restoration with gentle warming from a thermos of hot water!

The Scientific Method Prevailed!

Meanwhile, I actually won the science fair with a brilliant poster and glassware display of liquid chromatography of spinach nutrients and pigments in an alcohol extract! {No mice were killed during my experiments!}