Arguably the Worst Job in Science

Everybody experiences attitudinal highs and lows associated with their job. Hopefully, the good days outnumber the bad days. Nevertheless, no matter how bad a person feels about their job at any one time, there are jobs that most would agree are much worse. The October issue of Popular Science has compiled a listing. Here's an example:

FLATUS ODOR JUDGE
- Odor judges are common in the research labs of mouthwash companies, where the halitosis-inflicted blow great gusts of breath in their faces to test product efficacy. But Minneapolis gastroenterologist Michael Levitt recently took the job to another level - or, rather, to the other end. Levitt paid two brave souls to indulge repeatedly in the odors of other people's farts. (Levitt refuses to divulge the remuneration, but it would seem safe to characterize it thusly: Not enough.) Sixteen healthy subjects volunteered to eat pinto beans and insert small plastic collection tubes into their anuses (worst-job runners-up, to be sure). After each "episode of flatulence," Levitt syringed the gas into a discrete container, rigorously maintaining fart integrity. The odor judges then sat down with at least 100 samples, opened the caps one at a time, and inhaled robustly. As their faces writhed in agony, they rated just how noxious the smell was. The samples were also chemically analyzed, and - eureka! - Levitt determined definitively the most malodorous component of the human flatus: hydrogen sulfide.

Pretty disgusting, eh? And, there are many others on the list that are just as unattractive. Read some of the others.

My take is that there is therapeutic anti-depressive value in knowing that there are some people who have a worse job. Call this a lift-your-spirits blog entry.

Hat tip: The Eyes Have It