Because who wouldn’t want a pair of artificial Japanese breasts with a built-in heartbeat? Or for that matter, a precarious outdoor cage in which to dangle your infant several stories over the street. LIFE magazine has cataloged its picks for most absurd inventions of all time, most of which are rather amusing. A few of our favorites after the jump (rocket belt, anyone?) or visit LIFE‘s site for the full list of weird science-inspired oddities.
