Astrophysicist gets magnets stuck up his nose while trying to invent anti-face touching device

[Tanuki]

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/30/astrophysicist-gets-magnets-stuck-up-nose-while-inventing-coronavirus-device

"An Australian astrophysicist has been admitted to hospital after getting four magnets stuck up his nose in an attempt to invent a device that stops people touching their faces during the coronavirus outbreak.

Dr Daniel Reardon, a research fellow at Melbourne’s Swinburne University, was building a necklace that sounds an alarm on facial contact, when the mishap occurred on Thursday night.
....


Reardon said he placed two magnets inside his nostrils, and two on the outside. When he removed the magnets from the outside of his nose, the two inside stuck together. Unfortunately, the researcher then attempted to use his remaining magnets to remove them.
....
"After struggling for 20 minutes, I decided to Google the problem and found an article about an 11-year-old boy who had the same problem. The solution in that was more magnets. To put on the outside to offset the pull from the ones inside.

“As I was pulling downwards to try and remove the magnets, they clipped on to each other and I lost my grip. And those two magnets ended up in my left nostril while the other one was in my right. At this point I ran out of magnets.”...(more at link)

[milestogo]

1. Maybe the solution is too high tech for the problem.

[LastDemocratInSC]

2. Modern problems.

[peacefreak2.0]

3. Betcha he put beans up his nose as a kid.

[silverweb]

5. All I can think about....

All I can think about while reading this is the time my 6-year-old son put a Bic pen cap up one nostril, where it got stuck and required an ER visit to retrieve. When asked why he did that, his answer was, "I wanted to see how far it would go."

Curiousity and experimentation are the bedrock of all scientific advancement -- even when the experiments seem really out there. I just love science nerds.

[NBachers]

4. Probably a good thing he ran out of magnets . . .

[PufPuf23]

6. This is how impossible things like time and space travel are invented by

accident.

Well maybe anyway.

[Journeyman]

7. And all along, there's been a simple answer for him in easy reach . . .

And pet stores are considered essential businesses, so they're still open.

[montana_hazeleyes]

9. !

[cstanleytech]

13. A more practical option would be a burka.

[montana_hazeleyes]

8. Is this for real?

I could easily see a Gary Larsen scientist doing this. lol

[nilram]

10. And does he live in Florida???

[ck4829]

11. Did he say "For science!" at any point? Because if he did, it was worth it.

[LiberalLoner]

15. Totally!

[struggle4progress]

12. Why didn't I think of that?

[barbtries]

14. time to move on to the next idea.

i'm trying so hard not to laugh. just the visual.

[uppityperson]

17. K&R