The Body Worlds anatomy museums has many branches around the world, Europe, USA, Canada and Oceania. And they happen to have one in Amsterdam. A visit to the Body Worlds is an eye-opening experience. It really does make one see our body and happiness in a new light.
How to get there:
It is easily accessible on foot if you are in the city center of Amsterdam. It's just a 5-minute from Amsterdam Central Station. The nearest tram stop is Dam stop near Magna Plaza and Dam Square.
The Happiness Project has more than 200 anatomical specimens from real human bodies, including individual organs and approximately 20 plastinated full bodies.
The entrance fee is 19.50 euros per adult, child 6-18 is 14 euros, children below 5 is free entrance. Visit the official website if you want to buy tickets online: https://www.bodyworlds.nl/
Buying tickets online allow you fast admission and a 2 euros saving.
The identities, ages and causes of death of the individual body donors are not given with these exhibits because the exhibit focuses on the nature of our physical being, not on providing personal information.
The start of exhibition is from level 6, the highest floor. From there, you can either walk down taking the stairs or elevator.
The nervous system monitors and controls almost all bodily processes from scalp to toe. What is shown here is only the main branches.
This plastinate is called "The steerman". It shows all the muscle below the skin. Muscle strength peaks early in adulthood and then declines. This is why most elite athletes are in their 20s. One interesting fact is that speed is greatly influenced by our genes. No matter how much we exercise, it can only be increased by only 15 to 20 percent.
These two plastinates are showing a female orthopaedic body. A bone can repair itself when it is broken. Osteosynthesis has been performed on the humerus, the radius and the tibia. In addition, the joints of the hip, knee, foot and shoulder on the left side of the body have been replaced by artificial joints.
"Woman on a swing" shows the perfect interaction of muscles. The abdomen was opened in the middle, and the intestines removed, revealing the organs of the minor pelvis.
I like this quote: Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving.
Level 4 is about circulation.
The heart constantly pumps blood around the body. The size of the heart is roughly that of our fist and it weighs about 300 grams. It's amazing how much blood the heart pumps which is about 200 million litres of blood during an average lifetime of around 75 years!
"The fence jumper" - the skeletal muscles are the only muscles of our body that we have control over, just as this man controls his muscles as he jumps the fence. Each movement requires precise coordination between the nervous and muscular system.
You can check blood pressure with the instrument for free. You can also get a free body scan, checking your BMI, fat mass, muscle mass and body fat percentage. This is a new service offered to visitors which wasn't available during my visit last year.
You can also play the anatomical mirror game which allows you to see the different layers of your body (nerve, muscle, organs, etc).
Do more choices make us happy? This is an interesting question. According to the researchers studying the psychology of choice, the answer is "not necessarily". Group A was given a single piece of chocolate, Group B was asked to select one piece out of six, Group C was asked to choose one piece out of thirty. Although those in Group C could be unhappier than those in the Group B, those who were least satisfied were those in Group A who had no choice at all.
"The saxophone player". Music and dancing can help boost our happiness. In addition, it reduces many of the established risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
Smile! You are on camera. The camera can detect whether you are happy, angry, sad or depressed from your facial expression.
"The pedalling woman"
Do you know that when compared to other primates, including large primates such as gorilla, the human penis is largest, both in absolute terms and in relative size to the rest of the body.
Pay the bathroom a visit if you can as you can take cool selfie in front of the mirror.
Photographer Peter Menzel and writer Faith D'Aluisio set out to document the diets of people around the world. They interviewed and photographed families in many countries with their weekly supply of groceries and staples.
A family from USA with their a week's worth of food and expenditure of 236.90 EUR.
The food expenditure for one week is only 27.15 EUR for a family in India.
This reminds us why we are the lucky one out of millions!
The different state of fetus and it grows into a baby.
As woman can become pregnant without orgasm, for a long time it was believed that the female orgasm didn't serve any purpose. Studies have shown that women who have an orgasm will contain up to 70% more sperm, which greatly increases the chances of fertilization.
Even the elevators has some interesting quotes about happiness.
You can have fun posing with plastinated bodies with a fee, of course.
Happiness is a state of continuous pursuit. Would the state of happiness last, we could no longer distinguish this state from others, thus losing its quality. Overall, the museum is fun, interesting and interactive. Recommended if you're in Amsterdam.
Body World
Opening hours: Monday - Sunday 9am - 8pm except Saturday 9am - 10pm
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