Re-living my Childhood
This past weekend I went to the Ontario Science Centre with some friends from work, their friends, and Iram came as well. I can't remember the last time I went to the Science Centre but it was definitely a long time ago. Don't you remember the thrills about visiting the Science Centre for school trips, which were fun yet educational? I've driven by the Science Centre countless times and Iram and I always said how we wanted to go. So needless to say, I was very excited when this plan was made.
For those of you who don't know, the Science Centre currently has a highly acclaimed exhibit going on right now called Body Worlds 2. The exhibit is basically displays of real human bodies that have been preserved by a process called plastination and in most of the bodies the skin has been removed so you can see the skeleton and the muscle structure of the bodies. The neat part about it is that the bodies are placed in interesting positions, such as "the thinker", "the soccer player", "the ballerina" etc. DISCLAIMER: Not for the queasy or faint of heart. Although I have to admit, I get squeamish very easily. But this time I was actually fascinated by the exhibit, probably because the bodies didn't actually look real, they looked well, fake. They even had the body of a horse and a camel.
There was also one part of the exhibit that was considered optional, because of its potentially disturbing nature. There was a body of a woman who had died during pregnancy, so you could see the baby inside her womb. Apparently she knew she was dying so she donated her body for use after her death. They also had embryos and fetuses at different stages and it almost showed the process of development of a baby. You could see that some people were visibly shaken by those displays. That part of the exhibit was sad though.
They also had displays of preserved organs. Some of the organs were diseased, which had cancer and you could see the tumours and metastases. Perhaps the most thought-provoking ones were the liver, destroyed by alcohol use and the lung, completely blackened and ravaged because of smoking. That was an actual physical display of the effects of such activities, where most people can't see what smoking and drinking can do do them, here it was actually shown. There was also a cross section of an obese person and so you could see the thickness of the subcutaneous fat as compared to a normal person. It was gross! it definitely made me want to eat healthier.
After we had seen the Body Worlds exhibit we had a little bit of time so we went to explore the Electricity exhibit. Remember the ball that you touch and your hair stands up? Well we found it! But the show was going to start later and we didn't have time to wait for it. So we took a quick look around and the exhibit was pretty much the same as I've always remembered it to be! We didn't have enough time to look around though, so one day we're going to go back and just spend the day roaming the exhibits. We had a lot of fun, and for anyone who wants to check out the Body Worlds exhibit, it runs till February 26, 2006 and for more details visit http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/calendar/bodyworlds2/default.asp
It's something I recommend you to see.
For those of you who don't know, the Science Centre currently has a highly acclaimed exhibit going on right now called Body Worlds 2. The exhibit is basically displays of real human bodies that have been preserved by a process called plastination and in most of the bodies the skin has been removed so you can see the skeleton and the muscle structure of the bodies. The neat part about it is that the bodies are placed in interesting positions, such as "the thinker", "the soccer player", "the ballerina" etc. DISCLAIMER: Not for the queasy or faint of heart. Although I have to admit, I get squeamish very easily. But this time I was actually fascinated by the exhibit, probably because the bodies didn't actually look real, they looked well, fake. They even had the body of a horse and a camel.
There was also one part of the exhibit that was considered optional, because of its potentially disturbing nature. There was a body of a woman who had died during pregnancy, so you could see the baby inside her womb. Apparently she knew she was dying so she donated her body for use after her death. They also had embryos and fetuses at different stages and it almost showed the process of development of a baby. You could see that some people were visibly shaken by those displays. That part of the exhibit was sad though.
They also had displays of preserved organs. Some of the organs were diseased, which had cancer and you could see the tumours and metastases. Perhaps the most thought-provoking ones were the liver, destroyed by alcohol use and the lung, completely blackened and ravaged because of smoking. That was an actual physical display of the effects of such activities, where most people can't see what smoking and drinking can do do them, here it was actually shown. There was also a cross section of an obese person and so you could see the thickness of the subcutaneous fat as compared to a normal person. It was gross! it definitely made me want to eat healthier.
After we had seen the Body Worlds exhibit we had a little bit of time so we went to explore the Electricity exhibit. Remember the ball that you touch and your hair stands up? Well we found it! But the show was going to start later and we didn't have time to wait for it. So we took a quick look around and the exhibit was pretty much the same as I've always remembered it to be! We didn't have enough time to look around though, so one day we're going to go back and just spend the day roaming the exhibits. We had a lot of fun, and for anyone who wants to check out the Body Worlds exhibit, it runs till February 26, 2006 and for more details visit http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/calendar/bodyworlds2/default.asp
It's something I recommend you to see.
posted by RandomLiterati at 8:25 PM
10 Comments:
I don't even remember how old I was when I last went - I never went with school, just with my mom when we lived in Toronto so maybe I was 7? This exhibit sounds amazing! I'd love to check it out, maybe you'd go again for little old me? Since I couldnt go cuz of stupid work this time...boo
Salaams Shaziiiii!
My friend Tazeen works there and she was telling me all about it and also about the woman with the baby in her womb. She was saying how she was a drug addict and regreted it and she wanted people to see what drugs do to your body.
I refuse to go see it, Tazeen wanted to give me a postcard with pics of those bodies on it, I gave it back to her, lol!
I hope everything else is cool with you Insha'Allah, take care and come visit me! :p
Wow this definately sounds like a sight to see! I WANNA GOOOOOOO !Perhaps when I'm less stressed out with school/finalz n' all! Its been sooo long since I've gone... But mos def, this sounds amazing... i heard about it on on the news.
I'm surprised Shaz that you stomached this, knowing how you get about NEEDLES! and I thought i was bad!
Science Centre is for Kids!!!
So Shaz, what do u think would happen if YOU touched that electricity ball thing.. would your hair stand up inside ur hijab? hahaa...
I wanna go to the ROM.. i love that Ancient Egypt exhibit... and the bat cave.. I'm still soooo sad that the Planetarium is gone!!
I actually really want to go see Body Worlds though I don't know how I'll react to it..
I've been to the Science Centre twice in the last 3 years, omg it's the best! Went with a grade 2 class also - seeing things from their point of view is very different (and even a little scary).
I am very much against the Body Worlds exhibits, which my friends can attest to. People keep saying this exhibit is for science, and how people donated their body for science. Donating your body for science is a good thing (I don't know if it's halaal of course), but science and viewing pleasure are two completely different things. I don't see how it helps science to have a human body, with it's skin peeled off, being on display in various poses. Unless by seeing the "Thinker" pose, someone can somehow be enlightened to discover the cure for cancer, or another disease.
- Me
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dear "Me"
The specimens used in the Body World's exhibits were actually donated to science for research and educational purposes - these researchers either cannot use the specimens anymore or have lent them to Dr.Gunther von Hagens, an anatomist and the creator of Body World's in order to give the general public a glimpse of the human anatomy on different scales. The slices are actually used by med school students and researchers to pinpoint small nodules and other things that a simple x-ray, MRI and other scan cannot reproduce because it's the actual thing.
Dr. von Hagens actually invented the method by which the specimens are preserved, Plastination. His intent for the exhibit can be made out from this quote from him:
“The human body is the last remaining nature in a man made environment,” he says. “I hope for the exhibitions to be places of enlightenment and contemplation, even of philosophical and religious self recognition, and open to interpretation regardless of the background and philosophy of life of the viewer.”
Since people make the choice to donate their body/organs to science for after death, it really can't be used to cancer or disease research as you suggest, because you would need living cells. Either way, that form of research is conducted on animals first so it wouldn't be of use for disease, though I do understand why you'd want this to be a primary concern. However, education for future physicans, researchers, and scientist is as important so I wouldn't discount the value of this exhibit so quickly.
I can't say whether donating your body to science is halal or not, but I would say that being able to see the human body in this way is indeed a rare opportunity to further be in awe of our Creator and the amount of detail and complexity of His creation.
Well put Shaz!
Post a Comment
<< Home