I have heard of pets that you have to make provisions in your will for due to their longevity (some birds, alligator snapping turtles...), but I didn't realize there are scientifc experiments that have been in progress for 100 years or more. The pitch drop experiment is one such example.

When he set up the pitch drop experiment at Australia's University of Queensland in 1927, physicist Thomas Parnell had to know he would expire long before his test did. Examining the viscosity of the tar-like substance by the speed at which it flows from a funnel into a jar, the experiment has seen just eight drops fall in the eight decades since it began.

 

Parnell died in 1948, just two drops in.

 

Now these are some dedicated scientists! Read the rest of the article for some great links and more information on other long running experiments!