DailyDirt: Bring Out Your Dead...

Disposing of dead bodies is usually not a funny topic for anyone -- except for maybe Monty Python. But until we figure out how to cheat death, we're going to need to deal with corpses. Burying the dead six feet under might not be practical in some places, and not everyone is keen on cremation. Here are just a few other options.

• The Urban Death Project is working on a human compost pile... that is respectful but at the same time practical. It's not exactly a pleasant thought that the deceased bodies of loved ones would be mixed with organic waste products, but Nature doesn't have a problem with it at all. If various kinds of composting don't appeal to you, maybe you'd prefer launching your remains into space? [url]
• What do astronauts do if their colleagues were to die in a spacecraft on the way to Mars? There are some proposed solutions (such as a body bag for a promession process), but the answer hasn't been decided yet. [url]
• Liquid cremation (aka alkaline hydrolysis) is another method of dealing with a cadaver. This process doesn't produce as much carbon emissions as traditional cremation, and it uses less energy (but more water). It's also not legal in every state. [url]

Hopefully, you won't need to actually employ any of these options any time soon.

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