They also get used by the Mythbusters guys to rebuild their crash test dummy.
Now that is science!
Gotta tell this story!
When dad died, he had donated his body to (IIRC) the University of Southern California Medical Center. We called, they said “we’ll be there in an hour.”
One of those big station wagons shows up and out of the passenger door gets a young man in a dark suit. Out of the driver’s side comes an older man in a grey suit with a limp. They come up to the door like a casting call for “undertaker and young assistant” in a “B” movie–CoolFormerSpouse and I are already stifling guffaws.
After the obligatory “We’re sorry for your loss” and so forth, they get the gurney (typical EMT ‘fold up the wheels’ sort of thing) out of the back of the hearse, they go into the bedroom and then wheel the body out to the street.
You must understand that we lived on a slope, and they’re parked facing uphill. They take the gurney to the open vehicle, back up a bit to get a running start and hit the tailgate with the intent that the wheels should fold up and the gurney slides inside. No such luck. Hmmm…back up and try again. Now we (the FormerSpouse and I) are really having trouble keeping a straight face. They fidgit with the clamps underneath and try again–still no joy. We’re waiting for the corpse to fly off the gurney and go sliding down the street.
They finally get the darned thing inside without mishap and the young man comes to offer condolences once again. CoolFormerSpouse can’t help it…says “May I ask you a question?” (sure) “Do you practice looking solemn?” He puffs up and stomps off. We finally bust up.