Sometimes, in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, mankind must make certain sacrifices. Marie Curie died from radiation poisoning after studying radioactivity, and Neil deGrasse Tyson lost his ability to enjoy movies when he became an astrophysicist. Taking inspiration from heroes like that, The Discovery Channel is going to let some guy get eaten by an anaconda. The possible benefits of a study like this are nearly endless, but mostly we think the network’s assumption is that it will be pretty cool to see a guy maybe get killed by a snake—especially after its last attempt to depict someone’s death on live television ended in disappointment.
According to the one-sentence synopsis on Discovery’s website, the event—dubbed Eaten Alive—will center on “naturalist and wildlife filmmaker Paul Rosolie” as he “enters the belly of an anaconda in a custom-built snake-proof suit.” We don’t know what makes a suit “snake-proof,” but we assume it’s a highly advanced version of those stain-resistant dress pants where water just rolls right off. For anyone interested in actually seeing what happens when a man gets eaten alive by a snake—or whatever is really going to happen on Eaten Alive—the special will premiere on Sunday, December 7 at 9/8c. After that, the study’s findings will start popping up in every textbook from now until the end of time. Here’s a teaser for Eaten Alive that someone uploaded to YouTube:
[h/t io9]