Bodies: The Exhibition

[SirJosephPorter]

I was in Omaha on business last week and they took me to see Bodies: The Exhibition. As one can imagine, there is very little worth seeing in Omaha (if you discount my cousin, who lives there). Anyway, they thought I may find it interesting.

And interesting it was, it is a very unusual concept. I don’t know if anybody has come across this before, it was certainly new to me. What they did, they took dead bodies, cadavers. Then by a process, they managed to get rid of everything in the body (bone, fat, blood etc.), leaving only the muscle tissue. That way you could see the muscles in the body with total clarity. By another (but similar process), they got rid of everything in the body except the blood vessels. Then you could see the blood vessels in the body, the circulatory system (carotid artery etc.) vividly and clearly.

The bodies are prevented from decay by a means of a rubberization process patented in the 1970s by anatomist Gunther von Hagens. The essence of the process is the replacement of water and fatty material in the cells of the body first by acetone and then by plastics, such as silicone rubber, polyester or epoxy resin.

You may see the videos at the following site.

BODIES...The Exhibition

Put the mouse on 'About the exhibition' option and then click on 'video'.

Just remember, everything you see, bone skeleton, muscle skeleton, blood vessels etc. were actually part of human body. What you are seeing here is not some plastic construct, but actual human body.

I can imagine it would be an excellent teaching tool for biology and medicine.

BODIES... The Exhibition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



A very novel and fascinating exhibit.

 

[Ron in Regina]

I think this Display is in Regina at this point.

 

[Risus]

That exhibition was in Toronto a year or so ago.

 

[SirJosephPorter]

I was lucky it was running in Omaha when I visited Omaha. Before that it was in New York.

One interesting thing about the exhibit. I got to talking to one of the guides there. In Omaha, the display about the fetus was kept in a separate room, with a warning that some people may find the display offensive (along with the explanation that the fetus involved was the result of miscarriage, and not abortion). The guide told me that in New York the display was not in a separate room, that it was part of the general display, and there was no warning about it.

But Nebraska being a conservative state, part of the Bible Belt, I suppose they had to be sensitive to the local sensibilities.

 

[Ron in Regina]

Abortion. Conservative. Bible Belt. Yeah...didn't take long for that to emerge....

Anyway, My Tenant is very interested in seeing this exhibit, and forking over the
$12.00 for the privilege. Me, not so much. After dismantling cattle for a living many
years ago, I've had my fill of that scene, and wouldn't pay for that opportunity again.

For someone in (or entering) a medical profession though, it would be worth the
entrance fee.