11 Scientific Discoveries That Were Total Accidents

Jaundice is a common condition in newborn babies and it can be potentially harmful. It is caused by a build-up of bilirubin in the infants' systems that the liver cannot break down, causing their skin to turn a shocking shade of yellow.

It used to be the done thing to give the poor babes massive blood transfusions to combat the jaundice, a procedure that was fairly risky for a newborn.

Then, one day in 1956, this all changed. On a bright, sunny afternoon a nurse at Rochford Hospital noticed that a jaundiced baby that had been left out in the summer sun (they were a bit more lax about sun safety back in the day) had turned back to a healthy pink, save for one tiny patch of skin that had been covered by a blanket which remained yellow.

It was this, and a second accident that involved a vial of jaundiced urine being left in the sun, that led doctors Richard Cremer and Richard Hobbs to conclude that something about sunlight was breaking down the toxins in jaundiced babies.

After some experimentation, it was discovered that blue light was the best thing to treat newborn jaundice, rather than just leaving them out in the sun to cook for a bit, and they are now a standard bit of kit in most neonatal units.