BBlogFlow
← Back to videos

The Experiment That Tried to Weigh the Human Soul

Popular Science · Published on April 7, 2026

Play videoWatch on YouTube ↗

Loved this video? Share it!

Send it to someone who'll love it, or post it on your networks.

Facebook Twitter Email

Description

It’s a little complicated to weigh a dying person on a hospital bed, but that didn’t deter Duncan MacDougall. In the early 20th century, MacDougall’s unique bed-scale detected that 21 grams left the human body at the moment of death. He had finally discovered it: the weigh of the human soul ... or so he thought. Read more about the cultural legacy of MacDougall's flawed but influential experiment: https://www.popsci.com/science/21-grams-experiment/

View on YouTube

Facebook Twitter

See also