Bodies: The Exhibition

I've seen this exhibit before, I would guess in about 2006 when it was situated in the Tropicana Hotel. But it's been a while, so since it was at the Luxor where I was staying, I got a discounted combination ticket to see it and "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition," also at the Luxor.

The first thing you do is stand in front of a green screen. They snap a couple of pix then move you into the exhibit.

"Bodies" is fascinating. Using a rubberizing polymer preservation process, the human bodies' water and fatty tissues are replaced with silicone rubber, polyester and epoxy resin. The result is a human web network of blood veins and arteries, the lymphatic system, the body's neurology and muscular system.

To say the result is fascinating is to seriously understate what's on display.

There has been much concern over the ethics of showing bodies in this condition, as Chinese cadavers and organs were used. Serious discussion has appeared in the news media, including in Honolulu, Hawaii, when they set up the display there, my current residence.

They asked that photographs not be taken, out of respect for the deceased "models," but I sneaked a couple:

Don't tell anybody I did this, okay?