Polite Dissent

13 Responses to “ Picture Quiz: The Authority ”

1. lilacsigil
   December 22nd, 2008 at 4:56 am
   

   For one thing, they’re not looking at his sacrum. Those are his lumbar vertebrae?

   Secondly, wouldn’t you need different scans to diagnose spinal *cord* injury? And what happened to the organs near those crunched up bones?

   Thirdly, he seems to just be lying in bed, with no attempt to keep him still, no medication to minimise swelling or pain…maybe it’s all done by nanites?

2. -dsr-
   December 22nd, 2008 at 5:10 am
   

   There are loads of errors, but all except the sacrum/lumbar region confusion can be explained by the fact the Hawksmoor, in continuity, is a completely rebuilt person. He only looks human on the outside; any abnormality in skeletal or organ structure is explained away.

3. Ledasmom
   December 22nd, 2008 at 8:55 am
   

   Exactly what sort of scan is this, anyway? And what happened to the rest of the bony bits that ought to be in there somewhere, and how did the ones that are there get displaced to such a degree without his actually being dead?
   Apart from that, that’s a seriously wonky-looking skeleton, which I guess is explained by dsr’s comment; otherwise I’d be wondering why his spine appears to be in the front. You’d think that’d be crippling in and of itself.

4. Ryan
   December 22nd, 2008 at 9:30 am
   

   What is going on with his pelvis and ribs? There seems to be excessive bone fusion going on.

5. Jeff R
   December 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
   

   The screen is drawn in perspective, but the skeleton isn’t, meaning that his bones must actually be compressed or elongated at one end…

6. TayJK
   December 22nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
   

   He has, I’m guessing, 40 ribs. Most people don’t have that many.

7. fluffy
   December 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
   

   It doesn’t seem particularly sanitary to have a hospital where the doctors are going around naked or wearing cowls or whatever.

8. Dr Archeville
   December 22nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
   

   Shouldn’t there be some faint traces of the sutures of the skull?

9. Bo
   December 22nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
   

   The ribs actually seem close to the right amount (24)… the spine is clearly anterior, or perhaps the skull is turned around, so either his clavicle is oddly large or his scapulae are oddly odd… all 5 lumbar vertebrae are not destroyed as any bone above that pelvic region would be a lumbar vertebrae and any vertebrae below where the ribs attach would be a lumbar one… other than that he seems alright

10. Mr. B
    December 22nd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
    

    Can’t quite place the sternum or xiphoid. Don’t see the floating ribs.

    That guy is tough, his spine is beyond shattered. It looks like somebody put a M80 on his spine, and lit the fuse.

11. Dean
    December 22nd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
    

    The sacrum is located between the hip bones, and they;re not really looking at it. And, as others have said- Shouldn’t jack be immobilised? Is that much spinal damage even survivable?

12. Sable Hope
    December 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
    

    Skelly posture on the screen doesnt match his body in the bed- the arm is bent over his chest, his head is on pillows at an angle. Are we sure those doctor guys didnt just stick a phony scan up there to mess with the guy? [or a rubber toy skeleton, or something? Maybe one of those ones where they get half a monkey & sew it to a fish...]

13. Scott
    December 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 am
    Official Comment

    The way it, there are either one or two medical errors:

    ONE – If the Engineer simply slipped up and said “sacrum” instead of “lumbar spine” then that’s a single simple error.

    TWO – However, if the Engineer truly meant “Sacrum” then there are two errors: First, the x-ray shows the lumbar spine; second, a sacral spine fracture does not cause paraplegia.

    Otherwise, I figure his weird anatomy is due to the alien operations he has had. That’s a good catch on the mismatched perspective. He should have better spinal support. I think it’s an old x-ray, not a real-time one.

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