2732: Bursa of Fabricius

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Bursa of Fabricius
If an anatomical structure is named for a person, it means they were the only person to have it. Pierre Paul Broca had a special area of his brain that created powerful magnetic fields, enabling him to do 19th century fMRI research.
Title text: If an anatomical structure is named for a person, it means they were the only person to have it. Pierre Paul Broca had a special area of his brain that created powerful magnetic fields, enabling him to do 19th century fMRI research.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by FLYING SCIENTISTS WITH SUPERPOWERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

The Bursa of Fabricius is an organ found in birds that is necessary for the development of the immune system. In addition, the comic also claims that 16th century anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius (whom the organ was named for) was able to fly because he also had that organ.

Many scientific and mathematical discoveries, including anatomical structures, are named after the people who discovered them. The title text claims that in the case of anatomical structures, the anatomical structure is named after the only person to have it in their body. This would seem to be highly unlikely given the limits of biology.[citation needed] Pierre Paul Broca was a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist, known for his research on Broca's area, a region of the brain named after him that is used for speech and language processing. Broca did not do fMRI research, as it was not invented in his lifetime, but was able to study brains of speech-impaired patients of his who had died.

Transcript

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[A Cueball-like man wearing a hat, and a Megan-like woman wearing a wig look up at a man with bald-patches flying in the air]
[Header on top of the image]:
The bursa of Fabricius is a lymphoid organ found only in birds and in 16th century anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius, to whom it conferred the power of flight.
Hieronymus Fabricius: Wheee


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Discussion

One of the reasons for the success of humans is that the tools of humans do not depend on the structure and strength of the human body. Using fire as an example, a single person with a fire stick can burn down an entire forest in a matter of hours. Fire is not limited by the person who started it. The same goes for any other tool we make. ~ Megan she/her talk contribs 18:35, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Here's the wiki for Bursa of Frabricius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursa_of_Fabricius
And the wiki for Hieronymus Fabricius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Fabricius Mr. I (talk) 18:51, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

So that's why I can't find the Gräfenberg spot! LunarNapolean (talk) 20:34, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Perhaps you should have met Frau Gräfenberg? 172.70.85.96 22:10, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

At first I thought the top character was swinging on a rope like in https://xkcd.com/208/, but now I see he's actually flying. So is he supposed to be Fabricius? Barmar (talk) 22:15, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

Yes - seems kind of obvious given that the comic is about the fact that Fabricius could fly... ;-) --Kynde (talk) 08:02, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Perhaps the presence of the organ in avian dinosaurs prevented their demise after the asteroid. KingPenguin (talk) 23:33, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

omg return of safari hat guy from 603!! 172.69.67.54 00:44, 2 February 2023 (UTC)Bumpf

Uhm no. Not drawn the same way at all. --Kynde (talk) 08:02, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Adam's apple is named for the legend that a piece of forbidden fruit was stuck in the biblical Adam's throat. I guess you could call him the discoverer, but that's a stretch. 172.68.35.49 06:21, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

'Adam's Apple' isn't named after its 'discoverer', but after the Biblical Adam, because it resembles having a piece of the 'forbidden fruit' stuck in one's throat. The earliest use of the name occurs in a 1662 English translation of Thomas Bartholin's 1651 work 'Anatomia', but the Latin phrase translated, 'pomum Adami', had been in use in medical texts across Europe from at least 1600AD.

172.69.79.159 06:31, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Yes the start of the explanation makes no sense at all. Will rewrite --Kynde (talk) 08:02, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

"Sometimes, anatomical sections are named after their first discoverer in a similar fashion: Broca's area, Adam's apple, Achille's tendon, and so on."
Broca's area, yes. Adam's apple, as per above, refers to a Biblical story, Achilles tendon (not "Achille's tendon") refers to the Illiad. Terrible, terrible examples. 172.71.94.139 06:33, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

No the entire top section is BS. Also it has nothing to do with gaming. Will delete any ref to that and rewrite. --Kynde (talk) 08:02, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

So was Paul Langerhans the only resident of his own private archipelago, the islets of Langerhans? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancreatic_islets162.158.79.193 19:10, 2 February 2023 (UTC)


Should we a link to the list of lots of parts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_anatomical_parts_named_after_people

It's worth noting that if Mr. Broca indeed was the sole owner of Broca's area, he'd also be the only one able to name the area (after himself, evidently). PotatoGod (talk) 23:26, 3 February 2023 (UTC)

I don't know if Randal scans the discussions for comic ideas. However, I would suggest one about a mistaken belief that body parts have been named after their inventors, not their discoverers. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 02:43, 5 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm quite sure Randall tries to stay as far away from any forum that discusses and analyzes his comics ;-) And while he may be aware there is this explain xkcd and at least ones have linked to it from a comic, that was a special case. Also I think he tries to avoid getting ideas directly from other people. The one time he did a comic that someone had already done he made a special header saying so... xkcd 1723 --Kynde (talk) 17:45, 10 February 2023 (UTC)