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swaytosway
07-04-2006, 04:08 PM
Anyone been to this?
I just read about it yesterday in the paper, an exhibit is coming to Vancouver in September. I'm going to go.
These are real bodies, plastinated (all the water and lipids are sucked out and replaced with polymers, they are posed, filleted (ewwgh), and displayed). A person can even offer to donate their corpse for this.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/marley_lin/250px-The_Thinker.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i60/marley_lin/250px-Bodyworlds2.jpg

Body Worlds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Body Worlds (German title: Körperwelten) is a travelling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts which are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner organs or structures. The exhibition's developer and promoter is a German anatomist named Gunther von Hagens, who invented the plastination technique in the late 1970s. The exhibition, first presented in Tokyo in 1995, has been shown in many cities in Europe and Asia. A second exhibition, along similar lines but with different exhibits, called Body Worlds 2 opened in 2005. A third exhibition, Body Worlds 3, opened on February 25, 2006 at The Houston Museum of Natural Science. According to catalogues from the exhibition, more than 17 million people worldwide had seen Body Worlds and Body Worlds 2 up to late 2005.

The exhibit states that its purpose and mission is the education of laymen about the human body, leading to better health awareness. All of the human plastinates are willing donors who wished to be of use even after their own deaths. The original Body Worlds exhibit consisted of about 25 full body plastinates with expanded or selective organs shown in positions which enhanced the role of certain systems. Cased in glass amidst the upright bodies are over 200 specimens showing an array of real human bodies, some with various medical conditions. For example, there are bodies with prosthetics such as artificial hip joints or heart valves; a liver with cirrhosis; and the lungs of a smoker and non-smoker placed side by side.

A curtained off prenatal wing features a pregnant woman who died 8 months into pregnancy; her unborn fetus died shortly thereafter. She is shown reclining and a large flap exposes her insides, with the nearly fully-formed baby pushing aside her internal organs fully visible. This section also usually contains unborn fetuses and embryos, some with congenital disorders.

The last exhibit hall features a rearing horse and rider. All exhibits are accompanied with detailed descriptions, and audio guides are available with the option of beginner or advanced (laymen/medical).

tinkerlion
07-04-2006, 04:47 PM
not yet, but it's still in atlanta until september 4th. might try to go see it on my vacation coming up. it looks very interesting.

greengirlie
07-04-2006, 08:16 PM
my roomate went for his bday. he said it was really cool.... and enjoyed it a lot. not really my thing tho...

the duke
07-05-2006, 02:17 AM
I'd love to see it...I'm not sure if it came here and left but my sister mentioned it to us...


It's totally my thing...I love anatomy and find all the interesting...my mate gets to do 'wet labs' for her uni course where they disect bodies, it's totally cool to see all the muscles and organs in real life...you can learn a lot...


I'd love to see the smoker's lung next to the non-smoker's one...interesting...

sauce.baby
07-05-2006, 06:22 AM
it looks cool, but everyone i know is too queasy to want to go if it ever came here lol



OMSI [oregon museum of science and industry] has always had a little
area that shows the stages of a fetus from implantation to full term
using a simular, if not the same, technique on stillborns and
miscarried babies. i've always loved that exhibit.



it all really is fascinating.

mkatt
07-05-2006, 03:08 PM
That exhibit is great. I saw it in Philly awhile back. Definitely worth checking out.

swaytosway
07-05-2006, 03:24 PM
I take your review in high esteem...and will, thanks

ben04
07-05-2006, 04:27 PM
it is here in minneapolis through september 4th as well. I was waiting for a friend to return from europe to see it. now that she is home we need to get some tickets. It has been selling out weeks in advance here.

LipstickVogue
07-05-2006, 05:07 PM
that looks like something i would really enjoy. i should check if its coming near me. thanks for sharing that.