The most widely-publicized instantly-freezing-boiling-water trick came courtesy of Wisconsin meteorologist Eric Holthaus, and since then it inspired a mini-craze as people experiencing temperatures of -30 tried it out on their own.
Several appeared to have forgotten they were dealing with boiling liquid, as the Los Angeles Times counted at least 50 mentions of people scalding themselves attempting the trick.
Some attempts are funny, like this YouTube video of a Chicago couple burning themselves, Others resulted in third-degree burns and trips to the emergency room.
The Los Angeles Times also rounded up some reports from Twitter, like the following:
-“So I threw boiling water in the air, the wind was blowing and it landed on my head and back. I’m now in route to the ER w/ 3rd degree burns” (@Cammy_Ellis, January 6, 2014)
-“Maybe throwing boiling water in the air last night wasn’t a great idea. #ouch #burnt” (@22_manda2012, January 7, 2014)
This isn’t the only potentially stupid thing people have done amid the subzero temperatures. Gawker reports that one man tried peeing outside when the temperature was -50 degrees with windchill, though there is some skepticism as to whether or not he actually did.
