decomposition – News Stories About decomposition - Page 1

Too Many Cicadas to Eat?
Here's Another Use

Jun 17, 2021 8:30 AM CDT

Too Many Cicadas to Eat? Here's Another Use

Dead nitrogen-rich cicadas can be used as fertilizer

(Newser) - We're about a month into the emergence of Brood X or Great Eastern Brood cicadas, which means the nuisance is nearing an end. "From past cycles, broods last about 4-6 weeks from their first emergence," University of Maryland entomology professor Daniel Gruner tells the Washington Post , which...

He Opened
Freezer in Dead
Mom's Home.
Then, 'Screaming'

May 2, 2020 5:30 AM CDT

He Opened Freezer in Dead Mom's Home. Then, 'Screaming'

NYC police are investigating why a decomposed body was found in duct-taped freezer

(Newser) - Police say a man found a decomposed body in his dead mother's freezer as he was clearing out her Manhattan apartment, the AP reports. He found the body this week in a chest freezer that had been sealed with duct tape, the New York Daily News reported. Investigators say...

Cops: Woman Lived With
Mom's Body Out of 'Curiosity'

Sep 26, 2018 7:33 AM CDT

Cops: Woman Lived With Mom's Body Out of 'Curiosity'

Donna Sue Hudgins charged with felony concealment of a death

(Newser) - Donna Sue Hudgins' neighbor thought Hudgins possibly had a sewer problem, reports the News & Observer . The source of the odor ended up being much more jarring. Police allege the Enfield, NC, woman kept her mother's dead body in their home for months "because she was curious and...

Scientists Spot
Grisly First Among Deer

Scientists Spot Grisly First Among Deer

They're seen scavenging on human remains for the first time

(Newser) - When scientists dropped a human carcass in the woods to study its decomposition, they expected the usual suspects such as vultures and raccoons to show up to speed things along. Their cameras, however, also picked up an unexpected visitor: a deer. In fact, it's the first time a deer...

In Act of Love, Man Sleeps Beside Wife's Body for a Week

To Say Goodbye, Man
Slept Beside Dead Wife's Body

May 10, 2017 10:05 AM CDT

To Say Goodbye, Man Slept Beside Dead Wife's Body

Russell Davison says he recommends the experience to everyone

(Newser) - It may sound like a case of not being able to let go, but a British man who lost his wife to a 10-year battle with cervical cancer last month says that staying by her body for six days actually helped him say goodbye and was a "beautiful and...

When the Long-Dead
Are Finally Found,
He Cleans Up

Dec 13, 2015 10:58 AM CST

When the Long-Dead Are Finally Found, He Cleans Up

Scene Clean goes in when the cops leave

(Newser) - "Diabetics' bodies have a stronger odor when they decompose. There’s certain diseases that smell stronger." That is one of the things Nate Berg has learned over the past three years of cleaning up after the dead. Berg is president of Scene Clean, a Minnesota biohazard business that...

Science Proves It:
Walking Dead Can't Walk

Oct 31, 2013 1:02 PM CDT

Science Proves It: Walking Dead Can't Walk

Death does really unfortunate things to bodies, forensic consultant points out

(Newser) - It's Halloween, so odds are you're going to see some zombies today. But fear not, because if they were real zombies, they wouldn't be able to shamble, feed, see, or really do much of anything, Rutgers professor and forensic consultant Kimberlee Sue Moran explains to the South ...

Bodies Left to Decompose
in Texas Field—for Science

Bodies Left to Decompose in Texas Field—for Science

Students study decomposition at the 'Body Ranch'

(Newser) - Donating one's body to science has rarely sounded so gruesome. CBS DFW shines a light on Texas' "Body Ranch," the final destination for people who have decided to skip the graveyard in favor of a different final resting place. Here, naked bodies are left out in the...

Bodies Clogging Tripoli
Spark Disease Fears

Aug 28, 2011 7:37 AM CDT

Bodies Clogging Tripoli Spark Disease Fears

Decay and summer heat threatens to unleash health disaster

(Newser) - As fighting continues in Tripoli for the future of Libya, bodies are piling up in the streets—from combat, reprisals, and innocents just caught in the crossfire. And as the corpses decompose in the summer heat, they are becoming such a health risk that removing the bodies has become the...

Bug Expert:
'Coffin Flies'
Meant Body
Was in Trunk

Casey Anthony Trial

Jun 12, 2011 6:43 AM CDT

Bug Expert: 'Coffin Flies' Meant Body Was in Trunk

Insects attracted to human remains

(Newser) - Flies and fly larvae found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's Pontiac suggest that a body had been decaying there for three to five days, according to testimony by an insect expert at Anthony's trial yesterday. The entomologist said Caylee's body had already undergone a brief period...

Green Burial Method
Turns You Into Soil—
Via Liquid Nitrogen

Jun 18, 2009 7:41 PM CDT

Green Burial Method Turns You Into Soil— Via Liquid Nitrogen

(Newser) - As the movement toward greener, more natural burials gains steam, a Swedish biologist who specializes in soil production thinks she's got the best method, reports the Walrus magazine. It's called promession, and it's a doozy: Corpses are frozen with liquid nitrogen, then shattered into tiny pieces on a vibrating table....