Let's play "Ghost or Chemistry?"

[mollyringle]

I heard about the case of Mr. and Mrs. H's supposedly haunted house on "This American Life" last Halloween, and meant to post it here. Upshot: feeling chilled, fatigued, and weirdly suffocated in some rooms of your house? Hearing and seeing strange things? Yeah, you might want to check for carbon monoxide before you go blaming ghosts. It can produce all those symptoms and more--"more" in some cases meaning "death."

Thought it was interesting, since not only should it make a lot of people rethink their ghost stories, but it might actually save some lives.

I still hope ghosts are real, sometimes, sort of. But a good scientist eliminates other explanations first.

Comments

Wow ...

[celticmommy.livejournal.com]

I never knew that carbon monoxide poisoning could cause all of those symptoms. Makes me glad we don't have gas anymore!

Re: Wow ...

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I knew about the fatigue and eventual death, but didn't know about the hallucinations until hearing this story. Glad we've got a CO detector in the house!

[dirae.livejournal.com]

One of the reason's I kinda like the television show Ghost Hunters, despite its sometimes cheesiness, is the fact that they go into investigation hoping to prove the "ghost" isn't real. Usually, they are quite practical.

I have only seen them bow down and say a place is haunted a handful of times.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I always like reading/watching "real" ghost investigations, even if they're cheesy or they come up with a rational explanation. In a guilty corner of my mind I hope parapsychology gets more scientific attention. Surely everyone's interested in the possibility, at least?

[astroman-rich.livejournal.com]

I always enjoyed watching shows about paranormal experiences, but mostly because I liked seeing the scientific method put to good use. :-) I was usually left unsatisfied by the shows that didn't end up with a definitive conclusion.

On the other hand, the series I loved most in the late 70's/early 80's was "In Search Of...", replete with ghosts, UFO's, the Bermuda Triangle, and all manner of oddities. I saw an episode recently, and the best thing I can say about it is that it didn't age very well...