What is Death: Definition and 333 Discussions

Death is the permanent, irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death. The remains of a previously living organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death. Death is an inevitable, universal process that eventually occurs in all living organisms.
Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the similar process seen in individual components of a living organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered a living organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said to die.
As of the early 21st century, over 150,000 humans die each day.Many cultures and religions have the idea of an afterlife, and also may hold the idea of judgement of good and bad deeds in one's life (Heaven, Hell, Karma).

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  1. C

    Markov Birth Death Chain Show Stationary Distribution

    Homework Statement Logistics model: Consider the birth and death chain with birth rates π(n)=a + Bn and death rates μ(n) = (S + yn)n where all four constants (a, B, S, y) are positive. In words, there is immigration at rate a, each particle gives birth at rate B and dies at rate S+yn, i.e...
  2. Greg Bernhardt

    20% increase to civil war death toll

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17604991 The study was published in http://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2011/volume-57-no-4-december-2011/
  3. J

    Did the Trayvon Martin Case Expose Flaws in Stand Your Ground Laws?

    I don't think this is political, but if so, just move it. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Florida. The killer claims he shot in self defense, but evidence has come out that puts his claim in serious doubt. What interested me about the case was the fact that the local police did not do a...
  4. Char. Limit

    News Iran Sentences Canadian Programmer to Death for Writing Program

    http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/01/24/canadian-resident-sentenced-to-death-for-writing-a-computer-program/ I just can't believe this. If anyone wanted proof that Iran's leadership is not in any way civilized, this is it. I feel that something should be done, but I just am not sure what yet.
  5. Z

    Heat death, quantum uncertainty and Feynman's Path Integral

    Hi all, as a complete noob, I must first ask that people understand that I have only a layman's understanding of cosmology. However, after watching a few of Brian Cox's lectures on entropy and the heat death of the universe, I had a rather interesting thought (although as I am not a...
  6. bohm2

    Medical Vitamin Supplements Associated With Increased Risk for Death

    October 10, 2011 — The current study sought to evaluate the link between supplement use and total mortality rate, using data from the Iowa Women's Health Study...Vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, and zinc were associated with about a 3% to 6% increased risk for death, whereas copper was...
  7. atyy

    The Validity of Force and Point Particles in Special Relativity

    OK, if anyone is so inclined, let's continue the discussion here, since I think we are distracting from the main issues in https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=3652601#post3652601 Anyway, may I suggest that the real thing we want to get rid of is not relativistic mass. Rather it is...
  8. narrator

    Entropy, heat death and black holes

    Talking about the big bounce and black holes in another thread made me wonder about the life span of black holes, especially in the heat death scenario. If the U went through heat death, does that mean that black holes would also exhaust their energy? Do black holes die, and if so, what...
  9. Monique

    'Brinicle' ice finger of death

    Amazing footage by BBC Nature, I had to share:
  10. Evo

    News Bin Laden, the truth about his death?

    Interesting article about what really happened that night. continued... I suggest reading the entire article as there is a lot of information. http://news.yahoo.com/correcting-fairy-tale-seal-account-osama-bin-laden-054233289.html
  11. L

    Newton's law of cooling to find time of death

    URGENT! Newton's law of cooling to find time of death Homework Statement The victim, Peter Sloane (a senior physics lecturer), was discovered at 9.43pm with a liver temperature of 22.26°C in the Oliver Lodge coffee room, with the window open. The temperature of the room matched that of the...
  12. D

    What is the scientific evidence for life after death?

    I've been trying to do some research about it and all I get is either some comment saying we don't really know for sure or an enormous article stating all this parapsychology research that I can't go through in time. Can anyone just tell me what the science is saying for now concerning the...
  13. rhody

    Pittsfield Vermont Death Race and Ultramarathon

    Finding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mt31BAEwto&feature=related" and moving beyond them, would you ? That is by far the sickest challenge I have ever heard of, leave it to a bunch of Yankee's from the Berkshires to dream up something like this. Rhody... :cry: :cool:
  14. N

    Rebecca Zahau's death ruled a suicide - bound and with a t-shirt stuffed in her mouth

    I prefer to give investigators the benefit of the doubt, always, but I'm having a really hard time going along with this one. Beware that the link has a censored photo of the body from a distance in the air, and may upset some sensitive individuals...
  15. M

    Chem e undergrad: did I just sign up for another death sentence?

    I'm a third year planning to graduate 1 semester early. Last fall, I took 18.5 credit hours and worked 2 jobs (paper delivery and research assistant). I was pretty wasted by the end of the semester. Subsequently, I got depressed the following spring semester and had to drop down to a part time...
  16. E

    How does Heat Death work in a universe with negative curvature?

    I'm assuming that the observer witnesses all other particles enter a horizon, be it an event horizon or the particle horizon. Thus the observer's observable universe would contain himself only. Is this understanding correct and can it happen in finite time? Also does such a universe have time...
  17. T

    Heat death the ultimate endgame?

    I recently caught Brian Cox in BBC's Wonders of the Universe. I got caught on the heat death theory of the end of the universe. I understand the concept of entropy and that the universe is heading toward a state of maximum entropy. Cox used the example of desert sand to illustrate high...
  18. A

    News Norwegian death toll probably lower

    Just now, the Chief of the national police directorate, Øystein Mæland says that we will get an adjustment (somewhat) downwards of the number of people dead at Utøya. SUSPECTED deaths of "missing persons" seems therefore to have been included in some degree. The dilemma faced by the police...
  19. Z

    The Scale Factor & Universe Entropy: Examining Heat Death

    Empirical evidence supports that the scale factor is proportional to the following. a(t) = e^(HT) Where the distance between any two objects are D(t) = a(t)Δx Where x does not measure physical distance, but a conventional coordinate distance. This means that eventually any physical distance...
  20. N

    Death of Universe: Is a New Big Bang Possible?

    How will universe die? Energy can't be created or destroyed so is that possible that the energy of this dead universe could create a new big bang?
  21. wolram

    Exploring the Debate: Heat Death vs. Bounce as the Ultimate Fate of the Universe

    How many will argue that heat death is a better end to our universe rather than a bounce into a new universe
  22. A

    Time Dilation and Death: Understanding the Effects of Gravity on Aging

    lets say that there is a triplet at the age of exactly 60 years old.one of them A is in space far away from any gravitational field and not moving , B is on planet earth,and C is near a black hole. C looks at A and see that for every 10 min passes according to his clock(hand and biological) A...
  23. D

    Exploring the Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe

    I heard that eventually the universe will end in heat death where everything becomes cold and lifeless and immotile. Is this true and is it inescapable? What can we perhaps do about it?
  24. dlgoff

    Suspect in KC toddler’s drowning death is a 5-year-old girl

    Should she be put in jail? :rolleyes: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/08/2937494/suspect-in-kc-toddlers-drowning.html"
  25. H

    Near-Death Experience: Investigating Theoretical Implications

    [During the pilot phase in one of the hospitals, a coronary-care-unit nurse reported a veridical out-ofbody experience of a resuscitated patient: “During a night shift an ambulance brings in a 44- year-old cyanotic, comatose man into the coronary care unit. He had been found about an hour...
  26. C

    Cosmological Models Predicting Heat Death of the Universe

    I have read that some cosmological models predict a heat death of the universe. Eventually all matter (beggining with superclusters, clusters, then galaxies, then stars) will lose all energy and separate (due to expansion which will eventually occur even on a galactically local level) so that...
  27. Ƒ

    Celebrate or Not: Bin Laden's Death - Thoughts?

    People I know seem fairly polarized between whether or not it's acceptable to celebrate bin Laden's death. Any thoughts?
  28. M

    Was Chaos really Newton's death ?

    Dear Physics Forum community. Please allow me tro preface the following by stating that I am a novice to the concept of chaos theory. Although I do understand the general concept behind Turing, Bellousov, Laurenz and Madelbrot's concepts, I am not entirely familiar with the mathematical basis...
  29. Isaacsname

    Unexplained transient weight gains after death

    Ok, my apologies if this has been dissected on PF before, I did do a few searches and didn't stumble into anything, there doesn't seem to be much info online. Is it woo-woo or legitimate ? ----- Unexplained Weight Gain Transients at the Moment of Death Journal of Scientific Exploration...
  30. L

    Red Giant: The Death of a Star & Its Expansion

    When a star like the sun begins to die, what is the time frame over which the star develops into a red giant? How quickly will it expand?
  31. BobG

    Was the Tow Truck Driver's Tragic Death Preventable?

    Earlier this week, a tow truck driver was preparing to tow away a vehicle in an apartment complex. In the middle of hooking the cable from the SUV to the tow truck in order to drag it up onto the flatbed, the driver ran out, jumped into her car, and drove off. She snapped the cable from the...
  32. ╔(σ_σ)╝

    Survived a Near-Death Experience While Cycling?

    I have had a couple the most recent one was while cycling to work last summer. I ran into a nice flatbed truck that disabled in the bike lane while coming down a hill. I had a road bike and was coming downhill at about 45km/h. I had a fractured spine, I cut my lower lip...
  33. Ivan Seeking

    30th Anniversary of John Lennon's death

    http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1653779/20101208/lennon_john.jhtml I remember the day he was killed very well. I was sitting on the couch with the radio playing when the announcement was made. Had he lived, he would be 70 years old. Now that is hard to "imagine".
  34. R

    Embracing Death as a Natural Part of Life: A Scientist's Perspective

    thoughts on death... revisited Zen master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi once said, "You will always exist in the universe in one form or another." For an existentialist, this is easy to understand without having to resort to things like reincarnation, a soul that survives death, or any other similarly...
  35. C

    Law of conservation - electric charge, brain death

    Hey there, So I'm a bit of a newbie on this, and I'm just kind of wondering on this subject... But could someone give a brief description of how conservation laws apply to electric charge? And more specifically, I'm thinking in terms of how it applies to synapses and such in the brain...
  36. M

    Fundamentalists/Atheists: Thoughts on Death

    Since most of us here are fundamentalists/atheists, I was wondering what you guys think abut death. Do you guys fear it? Have you guys accepted death? I sometimes start thinking and to know it is inevitable it's hard to assimilate. I was wondering what was your philosophy of death.
  37. T

    What Comes After Death If You're Not Religious?

    I know this is a question that is discussed time after time... but I really need to talk about it right now and hope someone can listen. :) I have read over many posts here and I feel thankful for your thoughts and concepts which have seeped into my mind already. I did not grow up as a...
  38. R

    Unraveling the Mystery of Quasars: Are They Really Dying Out?

    Hi, I was reading an article on physorg, as I often do, when I stumbled on something that both confused and perplexed me. The article, "Black holes' true power revealed by 'Russian doll' galaxy," referred to quasars and how they are "almost extinct today." I'm well aware of hawking...
  39. K

    What was Nikola Tesla's Death Ray and how did it use microwaves?

    Can anyone explain Tesla's death ray to me in SIMPLEST terms? How did it work? what did it shoot? Was his design really accurate? And another thing, when people say it shot tungsten pellets, How big are the pellets?
  40. S

    How to Obtain the Transition Probability Matrix in a Birth Death Markov Chain?

    Hi I am trying to model the behaviour of 2 independent ON-OFF sources. My state diagram is as follows state 0 = both sources are OFF state 1 = 1 of the sources are ON state 2 = both sources are ON The transition rates are given as BIRTH RATE = lamda(i) = (N-I)*lamda DEATH RATE =...
  41. T

    Sandisk Sansa Fix - White Screen of Death

    One day the display on my Sandisk Sansa mp3 player just stopped working. There's no way to fix this, is there? :(
  42. Evo

    News Death Penalty for cut and dried cases?

    For some crimes, it seems the death penalty is not punishment enough. I am for the death penalty in cases, such as this, where there is no question of guilt. But I also agree that in these cases, the death penalty should be carried out immediately after sentencing Would you agree or...
  43. S

    Near death out-of-body experiences

    About ten years ago I saw a show on CNN or NBC that described what some patients experienced in an operating room as they almost died. Their heart and brain activity stopped for a short time on the operating table while under anesthesia. Fortunately they survived and upon awakening they...
  44. B

    Death penalty - to tell or not to tell?

    BBC News : Japan hangs two death row inmates http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10785131 My question : In Japan, prisoners are not told when they will be executed. So, what is worse, to be told or not to be told?
  45. U

    When do neutron stars, supernovas, and pulsars form during a star's life?

    can anyone tell me about various stages of life of a star? when does a neutron star, supernova, pulsar form?
  46. R

    After the death of an organism

    What happens to the energy that binds the molecules together? Where does it go; what does it become?
  47. A

    Find the Probability of time of death occurring after right censoring time

    Hi. I have the following problem I am finding very difficult to solve. Assume that the lifetime T is an r.v. that follows an exponential distribution with hazard rate a (Note: the hazard rate is the parameter of the exponential distribution) and that the right censoring time C is Uniform(0,b)...
  48. Ivan Seeking

    From Gutenberg to Gates - the death of printed text

    My shelves of once cherished and indispensable academic books, now seem more a box full of slide rules, or like my dusty old stack of 45's, than they do the deep well of knowledge that they represented as I slowly stocked them. It seems to finally be true: The long predicted death of print is...
  49. F

    The Eternal Cycle of Life: Nature, Death and Burial

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The origin of life and humans is unknown.That is to say that humans do not know how they came into being and why humans come to this world. We only know that life and humanity is the product of natural...
  50. O

    Rock Climbing - American Death Triangle

    This is the first time I've ever been to this forum, so I'm hoping this is an appropriate place to post this. It's been a good amount of time since my college level physics courses and this rock climbing phenomenon has me stumped. There is a rock climbing anchor arrangement called the...
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