Forty years later, the Stanford Prison Experiment remains among the most notable—and notorious—research projects ever carried out at the University. For six days, half the study’s participants endured cruel and dehumanizing abuse at the hands of their peers. At various times, they were taunted, stripped naked, deprived of sleep and forced to use plastic buckets as toilets. Some of them rebelled violently; others became hysterical or withdrew into despair. As the situation descended into chaos, the researchers stood by and watched—until one of their colleagues finally spoke out.

The public’s fascination with the SPE and its implications—the notion, as Zimbardo says, “that these ordinary college students could do such terrible things when caught in that situation” —brought Zimbardo international renown. It also provoked criticism from other researchers, who questioned the ethics of subjecting student volunteers to such extreme emotional trauma. The study had been approved by Stanford’s Human Subjects Research Committee, and Zimbardo says that “neither they nor we could have imagined” that the guards would treat the prisoners so inhumanely.

Stanford Magazine interviewed some of the participants in the experiment, both faculty and students. They tell their side of the story in the latest issue. Link -via Metafilter

Its hard to believe these little things can even fly. They are about as small as a quarter and are simply cool.

Ilan Kroo and his colleagues at Stanford hope to use them for Mars exploration or atmospheric research one day!

Link – via djowtlaw

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by slowboy.