anatomy

13 Stories

Pitt Students Accused of Abusing Cadavers

The school says such allegations are 'extremely rare'

(Newser) - Students in an anatomy lab class at the University of Pittsburgh were taught about handling cadavers in a respectful manner, but two students allegedly went on to do the opposite. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Amay Gupta and Sonel Jimenez, both 19, were charged this month with one count each of...

Scott Kelly's Body Endured Another Surprise in Space

Astronaut's heart didn't have to work as hard in zero gravity and so it shrank 27%, scientists say

(Newser) - They called it the "perfect nature versus nurture" experiment : Astronaut Scott Kelly was sent to the International Space Station for nearly a year, while his identical twin, astronaut and now Sen. Mark Kelly, remained on Earth. When Scott Kelly came back home in March 2016, scientists compared his DNA...

Doctors May Have Found New Organ Hidden in Head

These could be first major salivary glands found in 300 years

(Newser) - For the past three centuries, doctors have been under the impression that humans have three major types of salivary glands, found near the ears, below the jaw, and under the tongue. "Now, we think there is a fourth," Dr. Matthijs Valstar of the Netherlands Cancer Institute tells the...

Reason for Your Achy Knee May Be a 'Little Bean'
This 'Pointless' Bone Vanished
From Humans. Now It's Back
in case you missed it
Apr 27, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

This 'Pointless' Bone Vanished From Humans. Now It's Back

Scientists thought evolution had taken its toll on knee's fabella, but it's making a comeback

(Newser) - One hundred years ago, just 11% of humans had a fabella, a tiny bone embedded in the tendon behind the knee. Last year, the percentage of people worldwide with that bone spiked to 39%, and scientists are trying to figure out why a bone that doctors generally think is "...

Newly Identified Human Organ Serves as 'Shock Absorber'
Newfound Human Organ Holds
a 5th of Body's Fluid
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 1, 2018 7:11 AM CDT

Newfound Human Organ Holds a 5th of Body's Fluid

The interstitium serves as a 'shock absorber'

(Newser) - A pathologist investigating strange patterns spotted in routine endoscopies found a previously undiscovered human organ lurking right inside his nose. The interstitium, a network of fluid-filled spaces, is found in tissues throughout the body, including below the surface of the skin and surrounding the digestive tract. The organ, described by...

The ER Doctors Train on Live Pigs, Then Kill Them

The University of Missouri has seen protests over its use of the animals

(Newser) - The University of Missouri says it will continue to use live pigs to train emergency room doctors, despite protests. Last week, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine organized a rally outside University Hospital to advocate ending the use of swine in physician training. The demonstration came after the university's...

How School Teaches Science: Jump-Roping With Cat Intestines

Though Texas district says it'll change lesson plan after anatomy class video went viral

(Newser) - A "concerned whistleblower" blew long and hard by sending a video to PETA that showed a Texas high school class jumping rope with cat intestines—but the school district says it was all part of a lesson plan that wasn't meant to be cruel to animals, per KENS...

Where Did Chins Come From?
 Where Did Chins Come From? 
Apr 14, 2015 2:04 PM CDT

Where Did Chins Come From?

Not from heavy chewing, a new study suggests

(Newser) - The human chin is something of a mystery to scientists. How, exactly, did we end up with a seemingly useless structure at the bottom of our face? One theory, as Smithsonian reported in 2012, is that they offer some support as we chew. Small amounts of stress can break down...

Found in University Basement: 250 Corpses

Department director resigns over gross debacle

(Newser) - It seems journalists with Spain's El Mundo have stumbled onto Frankenstein’s laboratory. "This is not Auschwitz in 1942. Neither Srebrenica ... nor Rwanda," as El Mundo puts it. No, it’s the basement of the Anatomy and Embryology Department at Madrid's Complutense University, where the body...

Yes, We Are Still Finding New Body Parts

The human body is still a mystery, Bill Hayes writes

(Newser) - When Belgian scientists last month discovered a new body part —a ligament just behind the knee—many people were skeptical. Was it really new? Was this some conspiracy to sell new knee surgeries? How could anatomists have missed something so obvious for so long? But Bill Hayes at the...

Here's the Body Part You Didn't Know About
 Wild Discovery: 
 an Extra Body Part 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 16, 2013 11:06 AM CDT

Wild Discovery: an Extra Body Part

Turns out the eye's cornea has 6 layers, not 5

(Newser) - You've got a body part you've never heard of—and neither had anyone else, until now. Scientists have discovered a sixth layer in the eye's cornea, which was previously believed to have just five layers. The new layer, which researcher Harminder Dua has dubbed Dua's layer,...

Your Heart, Lungs May Be Able to Smell

They appear to have odor receptors, researchers find

(Newser) - While your nose sniffs that fresh espresso, your heart could well be enjoying it, too. Researchers find that the heart, lungs, and even the blood may be capable of smelling, LiveScience reports. The nose has olfactory receptors to pick up on chemical compounds traveling through the air, and it appears...

Calif. School First to Ban Dissections in Software Deal

Students to use free anatomy software instead of frogs

(Newser) - A California high school has put down its scalpels and become the first school in the nation to accept a software offer from an animal rights group. Rancho Verde High School will drop frog dissections in exchange for free "Digital Frog" anatomy software provided by the Animal Welfare Institute...

13 Stories