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Body Worlds
- Aug 20, 2009 at 12:53 PM
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Your brain is your "three pound gem", says Dr. von Hagens, the founding scientist of Body Worlds, an exhibition of the human body. The Three Pound Gem is part of a traveling exhibit entitled The Human Saga. This incredible exhibit is on my list of things I am dying to see but won't. Abby is not interested enough and the tickets are too expensive. Maybe next time around I'll get there, but for now, a tour of their website was a very interesting alternative to seeing it in person.
Body Worlds & The Brain - Our Three Pound Gem brings together all aspects of neuroscience, resulting in the most comprehensive visual display of the brain you will find anywhere. Body Worlds and The Mirror of Time shows the human body through the years as our body's age and change. Body Worlds & The Story of the Heart displays the body as a series of individual systems, such as the circulatory and digestive systems.
Dr. von Hagens is the worlds leading anatomist (just LOOK at his work), due to having invented and patented the process of plastination. He founded the Institute for Plastination in Germany, and has preserved thousands of specimens of various species, including a horse. This process preserves so well, he will be using preserved specimens to teach anatamy instead of dissections! It is noteworthy the Catholic Church considered allowing him to preserve the body of Pope John Paul II. He did preserve the heelbone of Hildegard of Bingden, whom I wrote about previously.
The purpose of their exhibits and models is to teach about the human body by showing it in 3-D, in a variety of circumstances, while making it incredibly interesting. These models are also used in medical schools. On the website, they have a few free resources, such as brochures and posters, downloadable pdfs to help you prepare for your visit, and educator materials. Their student guide is a free download and REALLY COOL.
Plastination was invented by Dr. von Hagens in 1977, then patented and improved in more recent years. He provides much detail of the process, which basically consists of halting decomposition of the specimen. In order to do this, the body fluids, water and fat needs to be removed since these components are what the bacteria use as they decompose the body.
The first step pumps formalin (a fixative) into the arteries in order to stop the process of decay. The body is dissected so individual organs and systems can be preserved and dispplayed separately, if required.
Next, the body is soaked in an acetone bath.
Then, the special polymer (plastic) replaces the water and fatty tissues, where impregnantion deep into the cells is achieved using vacuum treatment which can take weeks for a complete body.
Then, the body or other specimens are positioned. This exhibition shows specimens in a variety of poses, which allows you to see the many muscle groups in action. Some of the poses consist of open body cavities so you can see what is inside!
Finally, the specimen is allowed to harden. This process depends on the polymer type used, but basically it just needs to be treated with light or certain gases in order to become permanently stiff.
There are a few pictures in this post; they come from boston.com, zimbio, and theleonardo. If you like what you see and want to REALLY be a part of it, you can donate your body to the project. Thousands of people in the USA and Europe have already done so!
What do you think of this project... Cool or Ewwww?
Tonya
AKA sunmoonstars
Comments:
Tonya, I swear you and my son are on the same wavelength. I have given up counting the times he starts bugging me about looking something up and you journal about it. You are so my new best friend for this one. Of late he obsessed with the inside of the human body and I can't keep up with him. I never know what he'll ask me to google next. So far we have done the heart, the brain, muscles, knee caps ( where he got that I don't know) and the stomach. His sketch journal is positively realistic for a six year old {{shudder}}.
Liansmommie, that is so awesome! I think he is on the same wavelength as my daughter Abby. It might seem weird, but very often (as with this one), her questions and comments drive my journal for the day. In this case, she was asking alot of questions about her brain. :)
The process of plastination is way cool, though I wouldn't want my physical remains preserved for posterity in this way. So that's a "Cool" and an "Eewww" for me. :)
OMG I've always wanted to see that. I think it was somewhere near me (Charlotte I think?) one time, but I was unable to go. I also want to visit the Mutter Museum up north, I love non-gory creepy shit like that xD
I think it would be really cool to donate my body to it, but then again if I did it now at only 21 years old, I might change my mind later in life O.o I'll definitely keep it in mind though, that or mummification ;D
That exhibit is at the Natural History Museum in San Diego right now -or it was a momth or so ago. We haven't been able to check it out because they were charging an extra $25- on top of the museum entrance fee- and the last time we went, I had no money with me. But it looked SOOOO cool- my 10 YO son wanted to see it so badly! =-(
Please ignore the typos in my previous comment! LOL
It's definitely a "Cool" but immediately followed by an "EWWW". I love your journals!!
I've been to Body Worlds twice (First in Chicago, then in the Twin Cities) and both times it was awesome I really want to go back and see the pregnancy section again now that I'm pregnant.
I remember thinking how tiny the little zygotes, embryos, and fetuses were! It was the first time I realized how amazing their growth is!
It's really worth a trip for any kind of person. It's just so cool to look inside a body without the smell, blood, etc.
They break down the body into systems such as the circulatory system, just the arteries and veins, that was cool. It really makes you appreciate what you're made of!
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Ewwww! So cool!
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