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Houston Museum Of Natural Science At 5555 Hermann Park Dr.


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Thanks for having me! It's nice to have a forum to talk about the architecture and related subjects in this town. I'm not a professional in the field, but do have an appreciation for good design.

I felt like my previous post should probably go in the "Off Topic" or "Way-off Topic" forum, but then it would be a little difficult to connect back to the original discussion. ;)

Good point - subject has been moved to Off Topic.

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The exibition was just AWESOME...!!!!

Me and my wife went after 5:00PM because is cheaper and less people.

Very, very interesting stuff, We were able to touch the bodies several times..!! My wife was in shock when she was holding muscular tissue from one of the bodies....!!! She was in disbelief that the bodies were real....!!!!

She read the explanations like 4 or 5 times to accept the fact that those were real bodies....!!!

We walked the whole exibition twice, I really recomend it, We have some in-laws comming to town from Mexico and we are planning to take them there. Also we are planning to going a third and probably last time in September before the exposition leaves town.

Also the "fat" man at the end of exibit makes you thing about loosing those extra pounds...!!! Did anyone check it..???

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WOW, is all i can say. i saw the exhibit yesterday (mon) afternoon. the first few minutes, i was in awe and disturbed. what i found impressive is the small amount of information needed to describe what you were seeing. the education is in the seeing. many things are seered in my mind.

the kneeling figure at the beginning of the exhibit is said to honor christians, many who donated their bodies for this exhibit. the kneeling figure is leaning on a cross and holding a heart.

the central nervous system from brain to every nerve ending is amazing. the diseased organs, next to healthy organs are a warning the likes i've never encountered. a display of the tongue, epiglottis and trachea, all by itself, makes it clear how we do not choke ourselves to death everyday. organs filled with cancerous tumors that have metastisized (sp?) were a horrific reminder of friends i've lost to cancer. (perhaps it's better not to make those connections when viewing the exhibit.)

there are displays of the vein structures of the hand, the foot, a chicken, a lamb; all in the original shape of the original body, but without muscle, tendon, skin or bone. the process is explained as a vacuum forced process that fills the veins with this plasticene (sp?) formula. after the plastic hardens the remaining "substances" are removed. once again, grotesque and fascinating.

in retrospect, it is amazing how complex, and yet simple, our bodies are.

it is a must see for anyone in the medical field. i would think that it is a must see for teenagers as well.

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  • 1 month later...

Anyone have tips for going? We were hoping to go today and I saw online that I can buy tickets for a certain time. Does that mean if we're running late we will not be able to get in? We are hoping to go today around 3:30 ish depending on how early I can cut out of work today. We're hoping at that time the afternoon crowds will be heading out and we'll beat the evening crowds.

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Anyone have tips for going? We were hoping to go today and I saw online that I can buy tickets for a certain time. Does that mean if we're running late we will not be able to get in? We are hoping to go today around 3:30 ish depending on how early I can cut out of work today. We're hoping at that time the afternoon crowds will be heading out and we'll beat the evening crowds.

We made the mistake of going on Saturday at 11:00am with the rest of the free world. It cost a pretty penny and the crowd was unruly. Too many pushy people and freaks invading my personal space.

I was not impressed one bit with the exhibit, but I am also not a science person whastsoever. I like Real Estate, Numbers, Sports and booby bars.

A friend who is a personal trainer thought it was spectacular and has been back three times.

To each his own.

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Anyone have tips for going? We were hoping to go today and I saw online that I can buy tickets for a certain time. Does that mean if we're running late we will not be able to get in? We are hoping to go today around 3:30 ish depending on how early I can cut out of work today. We're hoping at that time the afternoon crowds will be heading out and we'll beat the evening crowds.

we went friday afternoon a few weeks ago, just showed up and got tickets. just make sure you get there at least a few hours before they close and you should be ok. it was just crowded enough i would say.

i would recommend the audio guide, it provides a lot of detailed info you would otherwise miss. and i got the advanced one, i'm not medically inclined and it was easy enough to follow.

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A group of us went on Tuesday night (the inventor was giving a talk) and it wasn't bad at all. We went at 7:45 and there were people, but not a lot, and not very many kids.

I'd say a weeknight is your best bet.

I thought it was interesting, it doesn't really look as creepy as I thought it would. You kind of get into this surreal head space and it seems you are looking at really neat plastic reconstruction. I'm glad I went, but I don't really want to go back.

Trophey, ANOTHER booby post? You need to get out this weekend! :D

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I saw it a couple of months ago and went to the lecture the other night.

It isn't any more gross than a wax replica or the skeleton in the biology lab. It is very respectful and scientific, imo.

I saw the ads after seeing the exhibit: those aren't really a good representation of the feel you get seeing the exhibit. I guess they try to be a little more sensational b/c they're ads...

There was a child of 7 or 8 in the exhibit when I went. Didn't seem to be bothered and she was asking questions. Seemed like some learning was going on.

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I've become a bit jaded about the whole thing since starting this topic months ago after seeing so many pictures, news segments, billboards, etc. I've even seen the ads on more mainstream, non-Houston websites. But I still don't intend on going. I do think it's a bit stomach turning for me. I noticed they have BodyWorlds brochures in the food court at Houston Center downtown. I accidentally got a glimpse of one before eating some Chick-Fil-A before the Astros game last Friday, though by the time I got my food, I had forgotten about it. ^_^

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I've become a bit jaded about the whole thing since starting this topic months ago after seeing so many pictures, news segments, billboards, etc. I've even seen the ads on more mainstream, non-Houston websites. But I still don't intend on going. I do think it's a bit stomach turning for me. I noticed they have BodyWorlds brochures in the food court at Houston Center downtown. I accidentally got a glimpse of one before eating some Chick-Fil-A before the Astros game last Friday, though by the time I got my food, I had forgotten about it. ^_^

its really not as bad as they make it seem. though if you have no interested in anatomy then there's no point.

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I've become a bit jaded about the whole thing since starting this topic months ago after seeing so many pictures, news segments, billboards, etc. I've even seen the ads on more mainstream, non-Houston websites. But I still don't intend on going. I do think it's a bit stomach turning for me. I noticed they have BodyWorlds brochures in the food court at Houston Center downtown. I accidentally got a glimpse of one before eating some Chick-Fil-A before the Astros game last Friday, though by the time I got my food, I had forgotten about it. ^_^

That's my point: the ads are not an accurate representation of the exhibit's look and feel...bad ad campaign or whatever, the ads turn one off. I'm glad I saw the thing w/o focusing on the ads b/c the exhibit was a valuable experience.

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The ad thing actually makes me mad. There are a lot of people in this world who do not want to see bodies. Placing it in an exhibit hall where you can choose to go look is one thing...placing it on banner and flyers and distributing them in public places where you may see something you don't intend to is something else.

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We enjoyed it. Not too crowded either. It was nice just being at the museum, I haven't been in ages and forgot that I enjoy it.

The exhibit is interesting, not particularly disturbing to me. Mostly we found it hard to realize that it was all real. It was interesting and educational to see the organs that had effects of disease and/or abuse like the smoker's lung, cancer in the body, etc.

Mostly the whole exhibit makes you really think about what a wonderful, amazing thing the body is. I'm so not into anatomy, but enjoyed it overall.

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I went there some years ago, in Munich, with a medical student, who I kept asking questions over and over :P

This was of course before all the controversy broke out.. it was big in Germany, since Gunther von Hagens is German. One thing was that he was using the professor title incorrectly and was actually convicted of "title abuse" (which might only be a crime in Germany or Austria for that matter LOL), but the bigger concern was that indeed not all the donors had volunteered their bodies, that indeed some of the bodies were provided by Kyrgyz and/or Chinese prisoners who had been executed. This was even a title topic of Spiegel, the biggest German news magazine. Of course von Hagens denied everything but there was definitely something fishy about it. Too bad the Chronicle did not mention this... So I can say that I saw it and didn't have to feel bad about going...

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

As exciting as that article is, my eyebrows raised a bit when I read about how we're going against the wishes of the entire scientific community, not to mention the UN, by transporting Lucy's bones here from Ethiopia next summer. It seems like that decision might have something to do with the fact that we hired a marketer rather than a scientist as the museum's director. Calls to mind those unfortunate Houston stereotypes of an immature, money-driven boomtown.

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If there were any serious objections to it, they wouldn't have been able to get Lucy in the first place.

Personally, I'd be a nervous wreck if I was responsible transporting anything from one museum to another as delicate and prized as Lucy, Dead See Scrolls, the Body World's exhibit, or the variety of priceless works of art!

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If there were any serious objections to it, they wouldn't have been able to get Lucy in the first place.

Personally, I'd be a nervous wreck if I was responsible transporting anything from one museum to another as delicate and prized as Lucy, Dead See Scrolls, the Body World's exhibit, or the variety of priceless works of art!

There were serious objections to it - did you read the article? The scientific community is not in control of Lucy; the Ethiopian government is. What the Ethiopian government does to get money is not necessarily what is best for the fossils.

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  • 1 month later...
Lucy was supposed to come to Houston for a visit, but I can't find if she has come and gone, or if her visit is still in the works. I never saw a date, but she was to be on display at the Museum of Natural Science sometime this year.

Anyone know the status of this exhibit?

If memory serves well, isn't Lucy a centuries old mummy or the like? for a minute there I thought Lucy and Ethel were doing a come back tour. They could redo that great scene in the chocolate factory, then Lucy could do her classic...Vita-Veaga-Vega-Min commercial!

The museum district will never be matched. Its has an ambiance and allure unlike any other place in the city. I still have 8mm film of the little park over on Montrose by the Italian Community Center and nothing will ever compare to the neighborhoods around Sunset Blvd! A real hidden treasure in Houston. The homes have a mysterious effect like the kind crazy homes movie people used to build in the silent era days. Maybe Norma Desmond still lives over on SUNSET BLVD? "Mr De Mille I'm ready for my close up" Cool!

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Lucy is the nearly complete, as well as the most complete fossilized, skeletal remains of an Australopithecine discovered by Don Johansen in 1974. The Houston Museum of Natural Science was very fortunate to have arranged for an exhibit of Lucy that was to occur in 2006. But, I can't find anything on it.

Did she come and go? Had the visit been delayed? Canceled?

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Lucy is the nearly complete, as well as the most complete fossilized, skeletal remains of an Australopithecine discovered by Don Johansen in 1974. The Houston Museum of Natural Science was very fortunate to have arranged for an exhibit of Lucy that was to occur in 2006. But, I can't find anything on it.

Did she come and go? Had the visit been delayed? Canceled?

I would just check the site:

http://www.mfah.org/main.asp?target=home

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Lucy is the nearly complete, as well as the most complete fossilized, skeletal remains of an Australopithecine discovered by Don Johansen in 1974. The Houston Museum of Natural Science was very fortunate to have arranged for an exhibit of Lucy that was to occur in 2006. But, I can't find anything on it.

Did she come and go? Had the visit been delayed? Canceled?

if nearly complete means 40%....

granted that is more than what is typically found

I believe she is dated at somewhere around 3 million years if my memory serves me

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if nearly complete means 40%
But, you have to keep in mind that much of what bones were missing on one side of Lucy, scientists were able to recreate from the corresponding bone on the other side that was recovered. All they had to do was mirror the bone. When you put all the pieces in place, most of the skeleton could be seen.
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  • 2 months later...

Lucy is indeed coming to Houston -- to the Museum of Natural Science -- in August. It's going to be a blockbuster exhibit, so I would buy your tickets now.

http://www.hmns.org/exhibits/special_exhibits/lucy.asp

I had read recently about the furor in the scientific community over Lucy traveling to Houston. Some scientists say she's too fragile to travel. The museum negotiated with the Ethiopian government to seal the deal.

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  • 1 month later...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Cash-for-Cockroaches.html

Museum Pays Cash for Live Cockroaches

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 2, 2007

Filed at 5:50 p.m. ET

HOUSTON (AP) -- A Houston museum is paying cash for live cockroaches as it seeks to populate a new exhibit.

The 25-cent-per-bug offer comes from the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

The center is trying to secure 1,000 live cockroaches for an updated insect display.

Curator Nancy Greig says cockroaches are as clean as the area in which they live, and catching them is a great activity for kids.

People wanting to get sell the usually unwanted creatures can do so starting next Tuesday.

After the museum has purchased 1,000 cockroaches, anyone else offering the insects will get a pass to use after the Brown Hall of Entomology opens May 25th.

On the Net:

www.hmns.org/generic/Insect--Wing.asp

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