On the day when death will knock at thy door
What will thou offer him?
I will set before my guest the full vessel of my life.
I will never let him go with empty hands...
- Rabindranath Tagore
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
'Space Burial'
For those that always wanted to fly or explore space, ‘space burial’ could be an interesting option, but it might not mean what it would at first appear to..
What is commonly termed ‘space burial’ is the practice of sending cremated remains (cremains) into space, and there are a number of different options for this, including launching them into the earth’s orbit, onto the lunar surface or into deep space. It is also possible for the cremains to be returned to earth in some cases.
With these options only fraction of the cremated remains, typically 1 or 7 grams, is sent into space.
Whilst this is a novel and interesting memorial act, it doesn’t deal with disposing of the entirety of the cremains - the rest can be scattered or buried as would be normal with cremains.
At first it might seem a worrying environmentally unfriendly way of marking the life of a loved one; however the capsule containing the remains is transported as a ‘secondary payload’, which means that they are part of a greater mission.
Another environmental concern could be ‘littering’ in space, but according to Celestis, the only team that conducts Memorial Spaceflights, ‘Celestis spacecraft are carefully designed so as not to create orbital debris. Each spacecraft stays permanently attached to a rocket stage that orbits Earth until the spacecraft harmlessly re-enters and is completely consumed by Earth’s atmosphere — blazing like a shooting star in final tribute to the passengers aboard.’[1]
A young company in the UK offers an alternative to this which sees the cremated remains scattered into the stratosphere. Stardust Ashes provides a service whereby an environmentally-friendly balloon carries the cremains to a height of up to 100,000 ft, where they are released from a lightweight biodegradable urn into the stratosphere.
This may not seem as high-tech as a trip into deep space, but the gentle carrying off of the cremains into the sky is certainly heartfelt– the first ash scattering held by Stardust Ashes was to commemorate the life of the founder’s grandmother.
These methods of commemoration seem designed to minimise negative impact on the environment; however the fact is that cremation – by far the most common means of dealing with human remains in the UK today – is significantly damaging to the environment.
But whilst cremation seems the only way in which these memorial acts are currently possible, there are plans afoot which may completely revolutionise the death industry to make it cleaner and greener, and which may provide an alternative method to cremation that may see our remains being sent off into the space via balloon or spacecraft in a much greener way.
More on green alternatives to cremation soon!
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[1] Celestis. (2012). Frequently Asked Questions.[online] Available at http://www.celestis.com/faq.asp. Accessed 06.06.12.
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Cryopreservation
Cryopreservation is the preservation of the body in liquid nitrogen at the point of legal death to preserve it in the hope that medical science will one day be able to resuscitate and heal it.
According to Alcor, who specialise in cryonics, ‘The object of cryonics is to prevent death by preserving sufficient cell structure and chemistry so that recovery (including recovery of memory and personality) remains possible by foreseeable technology.’ [1]
When the body legally ‘dies’, it is cooled and connected to a blood circulation pump to keep the cells alive and supplied with enough oxygen to preserve minimal function until it can be taken to the cryopreservation facility.
The water in the body is replaced by chemicals called cryoprotectants which are used to prevent ice formation when the tissues are
cooled to such low temperatures - this process of deep cooling without actually freezing is known as vitrification.
The brain can also be preserved independently of the the body, with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around it - this is known as neuropreservation.
No evidence exists that cryopreservation will be effective, and nobody has been revived from it to date, but with successful cryopreservation having been carried out on a number of human tissues, advocates of it believe that it will be truly possible in the future.
__________________________________________________________________________
1. Alcor. (2012). What is Cryonics?. Available at http://www.alcor.org/AboutCryonics/index.html. Accessed 01.04.12.
According to Alcor, who specialise in cryonics, ‘The object of cryonics is to prevent death by preserving sufficient cell structure and chemistry so that recovery (including recovery of memory and personality) remains possible by foreseeable technology.’ [1]
When the body legally ‘dies’, it is cooled and connected to a blood circulation pump to keep the cells alive and supplied with enough oxygen to preserve minimal function until it can be taken to the cryopreservation facility.
The water in the body is replaced by chemicals called cryoprotectants which are used to prevent ice formation when the tissues are
cooled to such low temperatures - this process of deep cooling without actually freezing is known as vitrification.
The brain can also be preserved independently of the the body, with the intention of future resuscitation and regrowth of a healthy body around it - this is known as neuropreservation.
No evidence exists that cryopreservation will be effective, and nobody has been revived from it to date, but with successful cryopreservation having been carried out on a number of human tissues, advocates of it believe that it will be truly possible in the future.
__________________________________________________________________________
1. Alcor. (2012). What is Cryonics?. Available at http://www.alcor.org/AboutCryonics/index.html. Accessed 01.04.12.
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Dealing With Our Dead in the 21st Century
Throughout history there seem to be three main means of dealing with and disposing of our dead: interment in a grave or tomb, cremation, and exposure to the elements and wildlife.
As technology has progressed during the 20th and 21st centuries, mankind has devised a whole host of alternative ways to dispose of the dead, ranging from the environmentally friendly to the bizarre. But our dead are not always 'disposed of' as such - in this day and age we have found some interesting ways to mark our departed loved ones' lives. And in some cases, they are not even considered dead when they are legally dead...
Over the next few posts we'll explore some of the ways we treat deal with mortal remains in the 21st century, starting with Cremation Diamonds.
Cremation Diamonds
If you want to keep your deceased loved one with you at all times, there are a number of companies that will transform cremation ashes into a diamond you can wear or carry around.
Carbon derived from the cremation ashes is purified and, in a manner emulating the production of natural diamonds, subjected to immense heat and pressure over a period of time, from a few weeks to a few months. The resulting diamond is then cut and polished and can be set in jewellery.
Far from this being the limit, one can have diamonds made from hair and nail cuttings of a living person in the same way, or even the fur from a pet.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Dying in the Modern World
We are born surrounded by machines; we die surrounded by machines. Where once we were surrounded by family and underwent important rites of passage at these two most significant stages in our lives, in the modern world we often are born and die in cold, unfeeling sterility.
Medical science has done much to keep death and disease at bay, prolonging our lives, but in our search to defy death it seems we are distancing ourselves from our humanity.
When a person dies in a familiar environment surrounded by loved ones, there is the opportunity for a period of adjustment and realisation of what is happening, of the process of dying. When one dies surrounded by doctors - strangers - and machines, the body sometimes being bullied into retaining life, this must surely be more traumatic for the person dying, and for the family. The situation and the people are unfamiliar, unconnected to the person who is dying.
As modern medical science has advanced, so we have become more removed from the family and important rites of passage during the most important transitional periods of our lives.
The King's Fund, which seeks to understand how the health system in England can be improved, quotes an NHS Confederation survey which suggests that 56 % of terminally ill people would prefer to die at home, but only 18% achieve this, with 58% dying in hospitals, 17% in care homes and 4 percent in hospices.
This is a highly significant finding which demonstrates our society’s fundamental inability to manage how we die and to allow people to die as they choose.
According to findings quoted by The King’s Fund:
What this means for the number of people wishing to die at home, is that whilst medical care is progressing, we as humans are being given less choice in how we live and how we die. If we are subjected to dying in a situation that we do not choose or want, then our death is not likely to be a happy or comfortable one.
There are of course a great many people and organisations dedicated to caring for the dying and fighting for our rights to die how we will; amongst these are such organisations as Dignity in Dying. Like all aspects of death, the subject of dying is international, political and often controversial. We will examine this in greater depth in the future.
Fundamentally, our rights in the important rite of passage of death have to a great degree been taken from us.
Our choices of what happens to our body when we die, however, are increasingly expanding, and next we will be looking at some of the more inventive ways people are finding to deal with our mortal remains.
_________________________
Medical science has done much to keep death and disease at bay, prolonging our lives, but in our search to defy death it seems we are distancing ourselves from our humanity.
When a person dies in a familiar environment surrounded by loved ones, there is the opportunity for a period of adjustment and realisation of what is happening, of the process of dying. When one dies surrounded by doctors - strangers - and machines, the body sometimes being bullied into retaining life, this must surely be more traumatic for the person dying, and for the family. The situation and the people are unfamiliar, unconnected to the person who is dying.
As modern medical science has advanced, so we have become more removed from the family and important rites of passage during the most important transitional periods of our lives.
The King's Fund, which seeks to understand how the health system in England can be improved, quotes an NHS Confederation survey which suggests that 56 % of terminally ill people would prefer to die at home, but only 18% achieve this, with 58% dying in hospitals, 17% in care homes and 4 percent in hospices.
This is a highly significant finding which demonstrates our society’s fundamental inability to manage how we die and to allow people to die as they choose.
According to findings quoted by The King’s Fund:
‘The pattern of death in the UK has changed dramatically in the past 100 years. At the end of the 19th century 85 per cent of people died at home, the majority from acute infections. Today 58 per cent of the 500,000 deaths each year occur in hospital, mainly from chronic long-term conditions. Long-term projections by Gomes and Higginson suggest that if current trends continue unchecked, fewer than one in 10 people will die at home by 2030 while deaths in institutions will rise by over 20 per cent.’[1]
What this means for the number of people wishing to die at home, is that whilst medical care is progressing, we as humans are being given less choice in how we live and how we die. If we are subjected to dying in a situation that we do not choose or want, then our death is not likely to be a happy or comfortable one.
There are of course a great many people and organisations dedicated to caring for the dying and fighting for our rights to die how we will; amongst these are such organisations as Dignity in Dying. Like all aspects of death, the subject of dying is international, political and often controversial. We will examine this in greater depth in the future.
Fundamentally, our rights in the important rite of passage of death have to a great degree been taken from us.
Our choices of what happens to our body when we die, however, are increasingly expanding, and next we will be looking at some of the more inventive ways people are finding to deal with our mortal remains.
_________________________
[1] The Kings Fund. (2011). End-of-life care. Available at http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/topics/endoflife_care/. Accessed 20.03.12
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