"Body Worlds 2 & The Brain: Our Three Pound Gem"

Whether you're fascinated with the inner workings of the human brain or simply enjoy being grossed out by what we look like on the inside, the second round of Dr. Gunther von Hagens's touring exhibitions is wonder inducing. "Body Worlds 2 & The Brain: Our Three Pound Gem" will feature more than 200 human specimens - including a couple dozen dynamically posed complete bodies - exposed and preserved through the German physician's own "plastination" process. This installment of the wildly popular and equally controversial series highlights brain function and development, as well as disease and disorders. The stated purpose is educational - one of von Hagens's goals is to show how lifestyle choices affect the body - but much of the draw lies in the almost disconcerting appeal of seeing the "machine which winds its own springs" stripped of its skin. Get an inside peek at the organ that generates those thoughtsicles from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Sundays. Through February 22. Houston Museum of Natural Science, One Hermann Circle Drive. For information, including a list of early closings, call 713-639-4629 or visit www.hmns.org. $17 to $25.
Sept. 12-Feb. 22, 2008