---
title: "21 grams experiment"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_grams_experiment"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:08:58.393301+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Similar experiments ==
In December 2001, physicist Lewis E. Hollander Jr. published an article in Journal of Scientific Exploration where he exhibited the results of a similar experiment. He tested the weight of one ram, seven ewes, three lambs and one goat at the moment of death, seeking to explore upon MacDougall's purported findings. His experiment showed that seven of the adult sheep varied their weight upon dying, though not losing it, but rather gaining an amount of 18 to 780 grams, which was lost again over time until returning to their initial weight. In 2009, Hollander Jr.'s experiment was subjected to critical review by Masayoshi Ishida in the same journal. Ishida found Hollander's statement of a transient gain of weight was "not an appropriate expression of the experimental result", though he admitted "the cause of the force event remains to be explained." He also warned about possible malfunctions of the weighing platform in two of the cases.
Similarly inspired by MacDougall's research, physician Gerard Nahum proposed in 2005 a follow-up experiment, based on utilizing an array of electromagnetic detectors to try to pick up any type of escaping energy at the moment of death. He offered to sell his idea to engineering, physics, and philosophy departments at Yale, Stanford, and Duke University, as well as the Catholic Church, but he was rejected.

== In popular culture ==
Despite its rejection as scientific fact, MacDougall's experiment popularized the idea that the soul has weight, and specifically that it weighs 21 grams. The title of the film 21 Grams references the experiment.
The concept of a soul weighing 21 grams is mentioned in numerous media, including a 2013 issue of the manga Gantz, a 2013 podcast of Welcome to Night Vale, the 2015 film The Empire of Corpses, a 2021 episode of Ted Lasso, and a 2023 issue of the manga One Piece. Songs entitled "21 Grams" which reference the weight of a soul have been released by Looptroop Rockers (2005), Niykee Heaton (2015), Fedez (2015), August Burns Red (2015), Thundamentals (2017), Arena (2022), and Klan featuring Madeline Juno (2024). Songs that reference the concept include  "Duck or Ape" by Roar (2010), "No Bystanders" by Travis Scott (2018), "La Yugular" by Rosalía (2025) and "The Manifesto" by Gorillaz (2026). 
MacDougall and his experiments are explicitly mentioned in the 1978 documentary film Beyond and Back, and episode five of the first season of the 2011 television series Dark Matters: Twisted But True. A fictional American scientist named "Mr. MacDougall" appears in Gail Carriger's 2009 novel Soulless, as an expert in the weight and measurement of souls, and a similar experiment appears in the 2009 novel The Lost Symbol, conducted by the character Katherine Solomon in her noetic sciences lab. In 2022, the TV series Evil featured a fictional recreation of the experiment in the episode "The Demon of Death". In the 2016 alternate reality game Cipher Hunt, an encrypted message on a contract selling your soul can be deciphered as "you're now 21 grams lighter."

== See also ==
Fringe science

== References ==

== External links ==
Duncan MacDougall's original report