Questions tagged [death]
A state in which an organism or a cellular system, as defined by its full set of functionality, ceases to exist (i.e., most of the functions are irreversibly lost).
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Why can't we kill ourselves by holding our breath?
Is it possible to kill yourself by holding your breath?
This question is obviously copied from Quora, but I had heard it as a fact that we cannot kill ourselves by holding our breath and I'm looking ...
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How long does it take for memory to disperse after death?
1: There seem to be cases where coma patients with a non-active brain (i.e. flat EEG) have regained full consciousness. => Apparently memory and knowledge are stored independent of brain activity.
2: ...
user6268
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Can the dead be brought back to life by viruses?
Zombies have been a part of popular culture for decades. The living dead rising up to take over the world is a terrifying concept, worthy of Hollywood blockbusters and television hits. Some of those ...
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Do all organisms have to die?
I understand (a little) that there are biological clocks and reason that after a certain amount of time organisms die. I'm wondering if that is something inherent in our DNA or in biology/chemistry in ...
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Can one die from pain?
Is it possible that a human or any other creature can die from pain?
I googled and found different answers. Some articles say Yes while others say No.
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Do animals suffer from "Human" mental disorders?
It is tragic, but apparently Killer whales and Dolphins can commit suicide too (e.g. here)...
This suggests they can become depressed. I wondered whether they were "clinically" depressed like many ...
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How long can a naked human survive on Mars?
How long can a naked human survive at the surface of the Mars planet?
For instance, let's say a worker's base takes fire while he sleeps, the building is totally ablaze and he can do nothing but run ...
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Do ants really dispose of their own dead, and how/why?
I just read this from Wikipedia's Swarm Behavior article:
Despite the lack of centralized decision making, ant colonies exhibit complex behaviour and have even been able to demonstrate the ability ...
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In humans what is the last metabolic process to cease after death?
After death which of our body's metabolic processes will continue functioning for the longest?
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What Would Happen To a Human Who Died In Space And Stayed There For a Prolonged Period of Time? [closed]
Last night I was watching a documentary regarding the Apollo space program, and it spoke about how Apollo 8 orbited the moon 10 times then came back to Earth. It said that while the ship was in orbit ...
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How long human can survive with just drinking water everyday
Can humans live without eating food, just by drinking water? How long can we survive just by drinking water everyday?
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What is the maximum altitude where humans can survive?
What is the highest altitude that a human can survive without being pressurized? Let's assume that oxygen and heat/insulation are not the limiting factors?
Why I asked.
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Can tardigrades survive being eaten?
Compared to a tardigrade, the cockroach seems fragile.
But can tardigrades survive the acidic environment of being eaten by most animals?
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Why do only humans commit suicide? [closed]
Why is it that only humans commit suicide?
Many animals do 'brave' things to protect their children or family, and some male spiders sacrifice themselves so that they can impregnate the females. ...
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What could account for an apparent loss of mass at death?
An interesting tidbit floating around the internet these days is that Dr. Duncan MacDougall apparently weighed people shortly before and after death, and found an average of a 21 gram discrepancy, to ...
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What produces the strong odor of decaying dead animals?
Are there specific chemicals responsible for producing the strong, putrid odor that is present after an animal deceases? Also, how long does this odor last?
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Why is dimethyltryptamine (DMT) released during death?
Many times I've come across a theory that the meaning of life itself is procreation - we simply live in order to make our species exist as long as possible. In the light of this theory, units like ...
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Why does fever above 102 herald a cancer patient's death?
I was recently intrigued by a longtime hospice nurse's observation that her cancer patients die a different death than her Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, heart failure and COPD patients.
She stated ...
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In the vacuum of space would death be instantaneous?
I was arguing with my colleague about this matter (I'm not going to mention which side I fall on).
Would death be immediate in the vacuum of space? For example, if I was suddenly teleported into the ...
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Why is living muscle tissue seemingly able to restore its shape under force, while dead tissue is not?
When I press my finger, even with relatively little force, into beef or chicken (say, at a grocery store), the indentation remains.
When I poke a cow with my finger, the indentation does not remain. ...
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Why do living things go belly up as they die? [closed]
I have seen birds, lizards, frogs, fish, etc in various places on their back dead. May be insecticides cause them to flip over but I do not believe every upside down creature died by poison as stated ...
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Which are the last cells of the human body to die?
When somebody dies, which are the last surviving cells of his/her body? Those of hair, nails, or some other obscure but resilient cells?
Shedding light on why and how they are so vital might boost ...
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Which extinction event killed the highest proportion of organisms?
The P-T extinction (a.k.a. the Great Dying) tends to be considered the worst - for example, Wikipedia states:
It is the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with up to 96% of all marine ...
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What happens to blood after a person dies?
After a human dies, what happens to their blood? I know that it tends to accumulate in the lower areas of the body, whichever parts are closest to the ground, but I am wondering about coagulation. ...
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For how long can a person drink sea water?
How long could a person of lets say 18 years be able to drink sea water without getting too much into trouble ? Or can a person drink it without noticing that it is a very bad idea ? I don't mean in ...
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At what point is a picked flower considered dead?
Let a flower be picked from the ground such that its stem is cut and the flower is separated from the root system (as in figure).
Questions:
1a. At what point is it considered dead?
Does the flower ...
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How long does it take for a cricket to die at subzero temperatures?
I am on a number of reptile groups and I often hear freezing recommended as a humane way to get rid of surplus feeder insects.
However, they can also revive if you don't leave them in there long ...
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Immediate cause of death due to dehydration
When we don't drink we get dehydrated and after some time we die. What is the cause of death on the lowest level?
I would assume the dielectric properties around/in the heart tissue get imbalanced ...
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Will neurons die if they are inactive for a long time?
We know that when muscles are not used they atrophy. Does something similar also happen in neurons if they do not receive any stimulus?
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Does an increased reproduction/mortality rate provide an evolutionary advantage?
If a species has a high mortality/birth rate, then it is able to adapt to changing environments more quickly than species that live for a long time.
Without a high mortality rate, food and other ...
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Cause of premature death in turtle eggs
Context
I am a hobbyist turtle breeder and I have been keeping and breeding turtles for 15 years (I have hatched turtles in the high hundredths).
Long story short, few years back, my friend and I ...
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Blood after death
After the heart stops beating, do the red and white blood cells and the other cellular elements in the blood become non-functional immediately? Or does it take time? Would clotting occur after death?
Roshen Carman
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Why are victims of Covid19 being wrapped in plastic?
Several articles describe the unique ways Covid-19 patients are being buried.
For example, in this Reuters article about Israel:
These included decontaminating and hermetically wrapping bodies in
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Could a single cell be brought to life?
If a scientist is observing a single cell under a microscope, and then realizes that the cell has died, is it possible to bring that dead cell back to life?
For my inquiry, let's assume that the ...
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Are there human genes that make a cell die when they undergo copy-number alterations?
I am trying to understand if there are known genes in the human genome where copy-number should be stable at a diploid level for the carrier cell to live.
I.e., are there lethal deletions or ...
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What is operating temperature of the human brain?
I've heard several times that human brain can die in temperatures over 40 °C, or under 10 °C, as an engineer I'm curious.
In what temperature region can brain properly work?
And just an underlying ...
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molecular indicators of apoptosis: clarification needed
I understand that DNA fragmentation is a molecular indicator of apoptosis. What distinguishes this as a hallmark of programmed cell death, versus one of necrosis?
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Why exactly does the immune system weaken with age?
Why does the immune system become weaker with age in humans and in some other mammals? Let's try to be more specific than just "everything degrades with age."
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How long can a unicellular organism live without nutrition? What happens after that? Does it depend on the domain?
Say I have three unicellular organisms: a eukariote, a bacterium and an archaeon. If I cut off nutrition from them at the same time, how long will it take for them to die? What will their death look ...
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Anopheles arabiensis lifespan and sporogony duration
What is the longest observed lifespan of a mosquito, especially of the species Anopheles arabiensis? How long does it take for Plasmodium parasites to develop and move into the salivary glands of ...
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How does glutaraldehyde kill bacteria?
How does glutaraldehyde kill bacteria?
After disinfecting, does it leave the corpses of the bacteria to count?
Does it leave bio-film in tact?
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What is the death mechanism of an electrocuted Mosquito?
While using the Electric bat, does the mosquito get killed by primary electrocution, or it secondarily by burning?
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I know why phototaxis happens but why did those bees die? [closed]
There is a tube light in front of my veranda. This is just spring. So at night when I turn on the tube light many bees gather around the tube for phototaxis. But in the morning I see many of them are ...
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Would urination continue after death?
If someone was urinating, and they were to hypothetically suddenly "fall dead" (the brain is unconscious and all muscles / organs are unfunctional), would they continue urinating or would it stop?
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Is it possible for a human to live forever if he/she didn't catch any diseases?
Aging is not a disease, but it's the gradual weakening of the body, as the body gets weaker it gets more prone to diseases. So one doesn't die from aging but from diseases. So if one didn't catch any ...
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Metabolic activity postmortem
I read some papers about studies on metabolism in post-mortem tissues in human, but I do not exactly the reason about why our brain continues to have activity after death.
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Why do insects (flies) put their legs together when they die (as if they're praying)?
Other animals don't seem to have an organized pose to die in. Or do they?
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How to surpass cell death?
Is it possible to surpass/decay cell death. For example to disable the process muscles cells death, by tweaking the transduction pathways:
If it's not possible in our age Medicine, what it would ...
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Most painless method for killing insects
I'm planning on having a small farm of crickets or grasshoppers.
I would like to cause them as little suffering as possible, so I'm wondering what is the most painless way to kill them?
So far, the ...
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