First, the headline is amusing. “About 100 brains missing from the University of Texas.” Second, the story is risible. Third, it’s a stunning sign of university negligence–a tragedy of the commons in academia.
A collection of human brains stored in formaldehyde, originally from the Austin State Hospital but housed at the University of Texas for the past 28 years, has disappeared. The brains were kept in the basement of the Animal Resources Center because there wasn’t enough room for them in the psychology lab, where about 100 other human brains still remain.
The USA Today article quotes a UT psychologist: “It’s entirely possible word got around among undergraduates and people started swiping them for living rooms or Halloween pranks.” The psychologist is co-curator of the collection.
One of the lost brains probably belonged to a notorious killer, Charles Whitman, a sniper from the university’s tower whose rampage in 1966 killed 16 people.
Hat tip: Susan Lewis.