You don’t have to be a physician or anatomist to be curious about how bodies work. Exhibits of dead human specimens have been around for quite a while – capitalizing on our fascination with death.
December 31, 2014 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of one of the most important figures in the history of medicine. He authored one of the most elegant and influential books in scientific history…
The recently published Italian study suggesting women can only have clitoral, rather than vaginal, orgasms raises important questions about the medicalisation of female sexuality and sexual dysfunction…
The striking transformation of a caterpillar into a colourful, winged butterfly is one that has captivated scientists for years. The metamorphosis involves the breakdown of most of the caterpillar’s tissues…
Many people think a snake’s forked tongue is creepy. Every so often, the snake waves it around rapidly, then retracts it. Theories explaining the forked tongues of snakes have been around for thousands…
Only two decades ago, when I was starting my PhD studies at the University of California in Berkeley, there was talk about the death of anatomy as a research subject. That hasn’t happened. Instead the…
Judy Melinek, University of California, San Francisco
Pulling bullets out of homicide victims makes up part of my job as a forensic pathologist, but not the most interesting part. No, I love a head-scratcher. Dead for no clear reason is the real whodunit…
You may have read last week that, in a bid to curb graffiti, Sydney’s State Rail may trial Mosquito devices - technology that emits a high-pitched noise that’s audible only to people aged in their early…
Put a finger on the point of your elbow. Feel inwards from there about half and inch or slightly more until you find another bony outcrop. Got it? Good. Tap with your finger in the valley between those…
If you’re female and exercise, a certain amount of breast movement is inevitable. But bosom movement extends beyond bouncing up and down – it also involves moving side to side, which impacts on breast…
Spiegel Online reported earlier this year that hundreds of human body parts had been found in a disused cellar of the University of Cologne’s Anatomy Institute. Apparently, irregularities of procedure…
You’ve just died. Your family is distraught. Before passing on, you made arrangements to donate your body to your local university for the purpose of scientific training. Your family and friends respect…