Self-experimentation Memes

Nothing validates your experimental design quite like putting yourself in the line of fire. This gentleman's approach to testing his "death ray" is the perfect embodiment of the scientific method's forgotten step: "If all else fails, become the test subject." Thirty years of teaching physics, and I've never seen such commitment to empirical evidence. The poor fellow's confusion about why he isn't dead yet is basically every grad student's reaction when their supposedly groundbreaking experiment fails spectacularly. Remember kids, if your doomsday device doesn't work, don't troubleshoot—just stand in it longer!