A scientist working on an anti-coronavirus device ended up in hospital after it all went horribly wrong.
Bungling Dr Daniel Reardon thought he'd had a lightbulb moment when he came up with the idea for a necklace that buzzed when the wearer put their hands near their face.
But the astrophysicist lost interest when his invention buzzed non-stop unless a magnet came close - the precise opposite of what it was supposed to do.
The Australian told the BBC he then started mindlessly putting the magnets on his face, including his ears and nose, pretending they were piercings.
But problems began when he placed magnets in both nostrils and they reacted and clamped together, becoming stuck on his septum.
In pain, his calm turned to some distress when he realised it was not going to be easy to remove the magnets.
He even tried using other magnets to get them out of his nose - but they then became stuck as well.
He then used pliers to try and pull the magnets out but these kept getting attracted by the magnets.
And the force of his nose being pulled was causing him too much pain.
He decided to admit his error and face up to the embarrassment by taking a trip to the local hospital in Melbourne.
And he ended up bringing his partner into the embarrassment, as his partner works at the hospital.
Dr Reardon, a research fellow at a university, said: "They thought it was great, particularly the doctors that know my partner.
"They came past to have a laugh and ask 'why were you putting magnets in your nose?'"
The medics managed to remove the magnets but Dr Reardon was sufficiently put off by the experience to ditch his invention, for now, saying he would leave it to someone "more qualified".
