My experiment today was to see if a marshmallow “peep” would really explode in the microwave. (I never eat them, so I figured this was a good alternative use, all in the name of childlike curiosity.)

So I placed the pink heart shaped marshmallow on a saucer and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds….it “inflated” to the height of a small volcano, but alas, did not explode. When I removed the saucer, the marshmallow had taken up the entire width of the plate….was neat to see the plate covered in gooey pinkish fluff….but I still didn’t eat it!

Comment by Marci on 1/8/2006 @ 5:07 pm

I decided to find out whether it was worth using hair-care products on my underarm, and if a third-party observer could distinguish between hair so washed and washed with only soap. Here are the experiment details and results.

Comment by ian tyrrell on 1/8/2006 @ 5:55 pm

Today I decided to do an experiment about flipping a coin. I was pretty sure heads would come up more since I like heads better than tails and I also thought that heads was heavier than tails.
I decided to flip a quarter 100 times on my dining room table. The coin could not fall off the table. That did not count. My wife asked what the heck I was doing and I told her not to bother me, I’m conducting a very important experiment.
First quarter: heads 10 tails 15
2nd quarter: heads 28 tails 22 way to go heads! Just like I figured!
3rd quarter: heads 38 tails 37 still winning heads, you can do it!
4th quarter: heads tails
39 39
40 40
42 42
45 45 this is going down to the wire 10 flips left!
45 49 heads is in serious trouble.
final: 47 53
Moral of the experiment. Always pick tails. I don’t think this was a good experiment for me. I got too nervous at the end pulling for heads.

Comment by Walt Kotecki on 1/8/2006 @ 7:42 pm

Today we conducted an experiment with the help of Mapquest. We always wondered if the distance and estimated time the Mapquest gives out, would be correct. So tonight we set off to get some good eats from Little Caesars. Before we left, we got the information we needed from the internet and we were off. Mapquest said it would take a total of 8 minutes and 5.43 miles and actually it was a perfect match! We were actually surprised. Now, this little experiment worked for a small distance, but we will see on longer ones another time.

Comment by Doug and Katie on 1/8/2006 @ 8:21 pm

I built a fire tonight and as I was contemplating a dessert of s’mores, I hypothesized my experiment. I would see what effects there would be on selected desserts by toasting them. The desserts I chose were a) half a Twinkie b) an Oreo cookie & c) a Snickers bar (mini size).

I waited for the fire to be hot coals without any flames. I held each dessert on a toasting fork for 30 seconds and then an additional 30 seconds rotating evenly.

I found that after the first 30 seconds a) the Twinkie was warm b) the Oreo was warm and c) the outside of the Snickers was soft and I was able to leave a fingerprint. After the additional 30 seconds the Twinkie was more crispy like toast, but still soft on the inside, b) the Oreo was warm and the center softened and c) the Snickers slid off the fork into the coals

I found that they tasted basically the same after “toasting” them (assuming the Snickers wouldn’t have tasted differently). I also found that it was very fun to “experiment” with fire and food!

Comment by Jenna on 1/8/2006 @ 11:59 pm

Mine was fairly simplistic as I was feeling quite ill, but applesauce does work through a straw.

Comment by Sue on 1/9/2006 @ 9:34 pm

I missed this one on Sunday, so I decided to do it today at work. I work in a cafe, and my shift starts very early in the morning when hardly anyone is around. I took advantage of this and made a sandwich with cheese, tomato and… strawberry jam filling. As weird fillings go, it wasn’t entirely horrible, but I think I’ll leave out the jam next time.

Comment by Alex on 1/10/2006 @ 6:02 am

This one just came to me when I walked in the door after being gone for four days. On the counter next to the sink was a bowl with 5 Cheerios and a small graham cracker crumb. The Cheerios are dry, mind you. The experiment - see how long the bowl will sit on the counter if I don’t do anything to it. Not sure when it got there, but I’ll start the timer from 11:30 this afternoon.

Comment by Jaimie on 1/10/2006 @ 4:14 pm

[...] The fifth task: Become a scientist. Conduct a silly experiment. [...]

Pingback by The Rodeo » Blog Archive » Lather. Rinse. Repeat. (T.G.E. part 5 of 40) on 1/15/2006 @ 8:34 pm

My experiment was to see if boxer briefs really are more comfortable than boxers. Having never worn either with jeans, I thought I’d try.

My verdict: boxer briefs.

Comment by Marisa on 1/23/2006 @ 10:07 am

[...] The Challenge: Play a practical joke on someone. Kim:As I was thinking about this challenge in the shower this morning the perfect idea fell from the sky, or at least from over the shower curtain. As part of Jason’s practical joke on me, he threw marshmallows over the curtain at me. I was not expecting that at all. This did inspire me to seek revenge as the motivation for the practical joke I would soon play him. As more marshmallows showed up throughout the day, I was more and more excited to get to lunch where the joke would take place. I decided to take one of the many marshmallows that Jason threw at me and I hid it at the bottom of his cup of milk. In order to get it heavy enough to keep it at the bottom of the cup I stuffed the marble from Challenge 5 in the center, along with about six pennies. Jason drank almost all of his milk until he got to the very end and saw the nasty mushy marshmallow at the bottom. He was pretty surprised and grossed out. [...]

Pingback by The Escape Plan » #39: Court Jester on 2/10/2006 @ 9:57 pm

I’m sitting here with my Eskimo YoYo’s which I really enjoyed off an on all day yesterday. Thanks for the inspiration.

I have a friend who is really into telephathy. He thinks our thoughts can influence each other. So today, I’m going to think, over and over again, “Call me, Randy, call me.” If he calls I’ll ask him why. I haven’t heard from him for six weeks and have gone six months without hearing from him. If he calls today I’ll be amazed. Let you know tomorrow.

Comment by Myke on 1/8/2008 @ 9:46 am