Popular Science

The Experiment That Tried to Weigh the Human Soul

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…

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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:

9 Comments

  1. @benmcreynolds8581

    April 7, 2026 at 3:10 pm

    I learned about this from one of my all time favorite TV shows “Dark Matters: Twisted But True” ~I highly recommend checking this show out. I almost never see anybody talk about this show..

  2. @piconano

    April 7, 2026 at 3:14 pm

    God created this universe so that he could live in it as life, everywhere possible.
    There is no I. I am a part of God that will never die. Soul or not.

    • @littlefrank90

      April 7, 2026 at 5:12 pm

      good for you

  3. @Absbor

    April 7, 2026 at 3:19 pm

    Meanwhile ebay: “you’re not allowed to sell something which doesn’t exist or parts of a human body.”

  4. @wizzelhoart

    April 7, 2026 at 3:27 pm

    was a great Movie. Del Toro was amazing

  5. @Richthofen80

    April 7, 2026 at 4:02 pm

    Haver-hill… someone not from massachusetts lol.

  6. @Jolfgard

    April 7, 2026 at 4:42 pm

    So 21 grams of what exactly? What is the carrier, or at least the physical correlate to a soul? And via which channel is it emitted from the body? I mean, if we can reliably replicate the phenomenon, the next step is trying to THOROUGHLY explain it.

  7. @Baylow94

    April 7, 2026 at 5:10 pm

    6:19 One Piece Mentioned! Yo-Ho-Ho-HOOOOOOO
    The One Piec is REALLLLLLL

  8. @likealeica

    April 7, 2026 at 7:00 pm

    So Vsauce2 finally finished her transition, and she looks way better than I expected

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