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Did the US Navy teleport and finally “disappear” a destroyer during WWII using secret technology?
Has there ever been a hybrid baby born from the mating of human and chimp?
And did Thomas Edison invent the electric chair simply in order to drive a rival out of business?
Welcome to the entertainingly smart new series “”Dark Matters: Twisted But True,” premiering on the Science channel tonight and hosted by “Fringe’s” favorite mad scientist, John Noble.
The series examines urban myths, scientific tall tales and conspiracy theories by looking at original notes and stories, and getting physicists, geneticists and scientists of all sorts to explain the science behind the stories — every single one of which is true.
Each segment is divided into three parts — each examining a weird and twisted story in which brilliant scientists may have crossed ethical lines to reach their goals. And, as Edison might have said, they’re electrifying enough to make your hair stand on end.
First up tonight, “The Philadelphia Experiment” — the story about the US Navy destroyer that disappeared supposedly via Einstein’s “unified field theory.”
This segment tells the story of scientist/author Morris Jessup, who in 1955 wrote a book about aliens and ended up being called in by the Department of Navy after uncovering the so-called “Philadelphia Experiment.”
On the day Jessup was to meet another very influential scientist, however, he was found dead of an apparent suicide.
Next up is “Ape-Man Army,” the tale of a Russian-backed attempt during the Stalin era to produce a hybrid of chimp and human, allegedly to create a fighting force with the brains of homo sapiens and the brawn of apes. (Or if it went awry, the brawn of humans and brains of apes.)
Last is “Zapped to Death,” the true story of Thomas Edison, whose blind ambition to destroy rival George Westinghouse led him to first electrocute scores of animals from mice to a horse to show the danger of Westinghouse’s A.C. current — and finally invent the electric chair.
The first use of the killer chair, however, didn’t work and caused an electric current to run through a convicted man for eight minutes of agony before he died, horrifying reporters witnessing the event and ruining Edison’s reputation — and probably his life.
Like a hybrid human, “Dark Matters” combines science with good, old-fashioned thrills to produce a whole new species. Great fun.