A university in Texas is having what you might call a 'brain drain' after 100 brains in jars were stolen from one of their research centres.

The brains were being kept at the University of Texas' Animal Resources Centre (in a basement) and had been given for research purposes by the Austin State Hospital, formerly known as the State Lunatic Asylum. 

The brains were being used as teaching tools, and while the thieves didn't get the entire collection, a substantial number is missing, believed to be around 100. They also suspect that among those brains taken was that of Charles Whitman, who went on a rampage at the university in 1966 and killed 16 people including both his mother and his wife. However, they cannot confirm this as the data which would identify the person from whom the brain came was removed as part of the agreement between the hospital and the university. 

Co-curator of the collection and psychology Professor Lawrence Cormack said that it could have been students behind the disappearance of the brains: "It's entirely possible word got around among undergraduates and people started swiping them for living rooms or Halloween pranks".

Via Sky News. Main pic via Curious Expeditions/Flickr