Proteus Syndrome is a rare disease that causes overgrowth of skin and muscles, and abnormal bone growth. Children born with the disease will often not show any signs of it because the skin tumors and bone growths appear as a child with the disease grows. This is known as a progressive condition. For a long time, it as unknown […]
Dactyl & Skelly Pad: Apps for Digital Bone Identification and
I really like these apps! I can’t wait to see how Dactyl grows and develops because it is a beautiful piece of work. This is a great review!Read More
The Interactive Institute in collaboration with Norrköping Visualization Center and Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization has developed a table that will allow you to take a walk through the human body, virtually. Known as both the Virtual Autopsy Table and Inside Explorer Table, the interactive work station was originally developed to enhance postmortem forensic investigations. Release […]Read More
The 2014 Rockstar Anthro Year End Review!
From the time I thought of starting this blog, I’ve had a few false starts, but 2014 was my first full year as ‘The Rockstar Anthropologist’ and it was AWESOME! Here a few of my favorite posts! My Favorite in a Series I have to start with my first series of posts. I did a 4 […]Read More
The Bones of Monsters: Mutants (Part 3)
This is the last in my series on the The Bones of Monsters! When you think “mutant” do you think about ninja turtles or perhaps the sewer creatures of New New York? The term mutant has often been associated with supernatural, extraordinary or deviant characteristics that change ones biology so much that they are either consider […]Read More
I was in middle school when “The Craft” came out. The movie went as follows: A high school girl transfers into a seedy Hollywood high school and meets 3 outcasts. They befriend her as they soon discover that she may contain some magic and would be the perfect addition to complete their ‘circle’ (coven?). Anyway, the […]Read More
Can We Talk About That Bone Floating Around In Your
There are about 206 (with some variation) bones in an adult human skeleton. As babies, we have about 270 soft bones, but as we grow and our bodies change, certain bones begin to go through a process called ossification- the bones harden up and fuse together. Most bones articulate, or come together, with some other […]Read More
A few days ago, an article began to circulate about a medieval burial that revealed evidence that the people of the time and area had laid a vampire to rest. This is exciting for all parties involved! Even if the archaeological aspect of the story doesn’t get you worked up, vampires have been a significant part of our […]Read More
Disease often leaves its mark deeply imprinted on the skeleton. Sometimes this can be very difficult to see and will require a highly trained or skilled eye. However, many times, bone remodeling can be clearly visible and provide a host of information that will give a history of the way a person lived and died. […]Read More
BABAO Online Forum Goes Live Today
Awesome! This is a really great resource!Read More
If you live in close vicinity to IKEA or decked out your apartment in MALM dressers and beds, you have owned several IKEA bags. I have them all over my apartment and reuse them for laundry, groceries, moving, etc. Yesterday, I stumbled across a news story in which a Swedish woman found IKEA bags filled with human […]Read More
Forensic Anthropology: Bone Trauma
I think one of the more interesting things that forensic anthropologist do is look at bone pathology. (Side note: I am biased. Skeletal pathology is my jam!) Pathology looks for abnormality- weird stuff. These abnormalities can tell a very rich story! Bones tend to operate, grow, and react with a fair bit of regularity within […]Read More
Bone Pathology: Fused Joints
This image shows a bony ankylosis (fusion) that has occurred at the right knee. This type of fusion can be the cause of many diseases or trauma in which bone remodeling occurs as part of the healing process. As a result of the remodeling, two or more bones will fuse together.Read More
Bone Pathology: A Look at Osteosarcoma of the Skull
“Osteosarcoma is an aggressive malignant neoplasm arising from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin that exhibit osteoblastic differentiation and produce malignant osteoid.” That is a fancy way of saying BONE CANCER Osteoblasts are cells that synthesize, or make, bone. Sometimes, it doesn’t work like it’s supposed to. When there is not enough nutrient minerals, the osteoblast are dysfunctional and the bone doesn’t […]Read More
Laid To Rest- Part 4 of the Series on the
By October 2003, the remains that were sent to Howard University, were ready to make their final journey.Read More