New Diet Device: Eat, Then Suck Food From Stomach

You'll need an, uhh, strong stomach to make it through this story: The latest in dieting is a device dreamed up by Segway inventor Dean Kamen that's designed to suck food right out of your stomach 20 minutes after you've feasted on it. Kamen and a team from Philadelphia's Aspire Bariatrics have applied for a patent for the device, which is intended for the morbidly obese, the New Scientist reports.

It requires a valve be surgically installed on the abdominal wall, in a process that's apparently less invasive than many gastric bypass options. And early clinical trials observed an average 44-pound weight loss. But there's one big potential problem: The pump has a hard time breaking up large foods and can clog; one trial participant reported giving up Chinese food, pretzels, chips, and steak as a result. (More strange stuff stories.)