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. atyy

    Death to background independence

    :smile: What do you guys think of the new non-background independent Chamseddine and Connes paper?
  2. Ivan Seeking

    Has TV desensitized us to violence and obedience?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9AkZWp3mDc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiXTLgZ-O6g The Milgram Experiment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
  3. C

    Death and Energy: Exploring the Possibilities of EMR Measurement

    Suppose at the point of death an 'energy' was released from the body. A discrete unit of energy, perhaps part of the collective energy around us, that is released back to the general pool of energy that surrounds us. The same energy of also which all matter is composed. There are a lot of...
  4. GRB 080319B

    Can Subjective Thought Influence Physical Survival or Cause Virtual Death?

    I have two questions: 1. Wikipedia defines the will to live as "a psychological force to fight for survival, particularly when one's life is threatened by an injury or disease such as cancer." Have there been any experiments or studies done showing that a conscious decision by an individual...
  5. J

    Simvastatin & Grapefruit: Fatal Interaction?

    Man am I angry. I was just perusing the instructions that come with my medicine, simvistatin, and it says I shouldn't drink more than 1 quart of grapefruit juice a day or eat large amounts of grapefruits. My doctor never mentioned this. I went on the web and found out that the interaction...
  6. Nabeshin

    What is the explanation for Death by Lorentz Contraction?

    I have recently been reminded of a problem a friend posed to me many months ago in special relativity that I was never able to address: Suppose we have a person inside a moving spaceship of proper length L. According to an observer outside the ship, the person inside the ship is at rest...
  7. M

    Death of Mars: How a Volcano Could Trigger Planetary Extinction

    i have watched inside.planet.earth.2009.avi Applying the film, If the core of the planet cools, the planet is dying, because it disappears EM field that protects the planet. On Mars there is a huge volcano(According to scientists, the largest in the solar system.) which was derived its...
  8. C

    Simple Harmonic Motion (will be the death of me)

    Homework Statement The motion of an object is simple harmonic with equation of motion x = (27.1 m) sin(16.0 t /s + 0.7). At what time after t = 0 will the displacement reach its first maximum (where velocity equals zero)? Homework Equations (displacement)=Asin(freq.*t+phase) The...
  9. L

    Death, being dead, afterlives and other nonsense

    Death, being dead, afterlives and other nonsense! Dear scientists! What do you think happens to you when you die? By which I mean, according to physics what happens to the mind? I have this strong belief that the mind can't die, in some senses of the word. I don't actually mean in the sense...
  10. S

    You are a prisoner sentenced to death

    You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the...
  11. M

    Pam Reynold's Near Death Experience

    Has this topic ever been discussed on these forums? I came across it here: http://www.neardeathsite.com/reynolds.php According to Victor J. Stenger all the people claiming to have had NDEs have never actually been dead, because their brains were still alive. Death is not longer defined as...
  12. Z

    Riddle of Logic: Death by Firing Squad

    This is a cool riddle of logic that I heard recently. It is supposed to be drawn out so I'll try to describe it as best as I can. Four prisoners of war are sentenced to death by firing squad. They line them up from north to south, all of them facing north (so that they are in line facing...
  13. Loren Booda

    What is the closest you have come to dying?

    What is the closest you have come to dying?
  14. Ivan Seeking

    News Baptist minister calls for Obama's death

    http://www.examiner.com/x-8928-Philadelphia-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m8d27-Christian-Pastor-calls-for-the-Presidents-death More from the nutty religious right. While I have no problem with denouncing policies that one believes to be wrong, this is way over the line. Not to mention that it is...
  15. L

    Death wobble. Uncontrollable side to side movement of wheels.

    My question is what causes death wobble? Let me explain more... The vehicle I've experienced this on is a Jeep with a solid front axle, but it can happen on other vehicles. While driving down the road at say 50mph, I hit a small bump, and the steering wheel and tires shake side to side...
  16. B

    Did Evolution Play a Role in Our Inevitable Death?

    We all die eventually. Its a fact. However what is the mechanism for this? Is there an evolutionary aspect to it that was evolved early on in order to limit populations, or is it merely a chemical defect that has remained thus far or yet a unavoidable consequence of how our cells are made up?
  17. russ_watters

    Archimedes Death Ray: Theoretical vs Practical Reasons for Its Failure

    I don't want to hijack another thread, so I'm moving the discussion here... A point about Archimedes Death Ray came up. The question is whether it failed for practical or theoretical reasons. I am of the opinion that it failed for practical reasons due to the inability of a bunch of...
  18. K

    Life & Death of a Star - Confused

    Hi everyone, Firstly i want to say that I've watched some of the "The Universe" episodes on my computer, and i pretty much have basic knowledge about the cosmos. But there's only one thing in particular that I'm confused: the life of a star. I pretty much know the "core" of it, but i can't...
  19. M

    Exploring Death: Is There Nothing Beyond?

    Let's say that there is no afterlife, no reincarnation, nothing but death. Can we imagine death? Every time you try to think about death, you end up having a thought. So what do you think about this?
  20. G

    Gravity: Time Dilation or Death

    Say there were a black hole near Earth (either recently found or created) that we could travel to. With similar technology available to us today, if we built a spaceship and came as close to the black hole as possible without the effects of gravity breaking the ship apart or ripping our bodies...
  21. S

    Is Fan Death a Real Threat or Just a Myth?

    Do you believe in "fan death"? Basically, I stationary fan left on in a sealed room could cause death by either suffocation or hypothermia. I know several researchers in Korea and in California have came out to say that it is all a hoax, but does anyone here know whether it is possible to...
  22. F

    Death Penalty and False Positives

    Discussing wheather to convict someone charged with murder and give them the death penalty, consider the variables "reality (defendant guilty, defendant innocent) and "decision" (convict, acquit) Jurors are asked to convict a defendant if they feel the defendant is "guilty beyond reasonable...
  23. Loren Booda

    What is it like to witness death for the first time?

    I have never actually seen somebody die in person. When I said my goodbyes to my parents, each had a few hours left. I felt that I could not endure the stress of seeing them actually pass. At their time, my father seemed to want to be alone - proud to die in a Navy nursing facility. My...
  24. A

    Wall of Death Problem: Finding Minimum and Maximum Speed for Rider Stability

    Homework Statement - FBD of description of forces - Mass of the rider ( is to decide ) = 70 kg - Dimensions of the Ride ( is to decide ) Height = 10 meters Radius = 10 meters Givens: gmax= 4 g Speed of bike = 80 Km/h Mass of Bike = 180 kg mu= vertical coefficient of friction = 1.00...
  25. T

    Death, Nothingness and Subjectivity

    The following is a very interesting naturalistic thesis on death and the fate of subjectivity. The author is Thomas W. Clark, a secular humanist among the likes of Richard Dawkins and the late Carl Sagan. If you would like to skip ahead to the main points, begin reading from the second post...
  26. K

    Failing trigonometry = the death of a amatuer physicist

    I feel so shamed of myself. I don't know who to blame. The teacher gives the exact same lessons on the book, but never follow how you should answer your trig. problems. I studied all through the week and even late at night. I got a C in the class, but I really want to be a physicist because I...
  27. V

    Can the Heat Death of the Universe Be Prevented?

    Is there a way that the hypothetical heat death of the universe can be prevented, if the danger exists? The heat death is a possible final state of the universe, in which it has "run down" to a state of no thermodynamic free energy to sustain motion or life. In other words, It has reached...
  28. A

    Is Consciousness Just a Temporary Phenomenon in the Universe?

    Existence: Consciousness arises from a complex set of physical causes and effects. It is amazing to think that consciousness exists at all, it seems a very out-of-place phenomena within our universe. There are many unique arrangements of matter in the universe, the majority of these are...
  29. M

    Death by Botox? Can Botulinum Toxin Kill You?

    If someone drank botulinum toxin, would they die? My friend and I have a bet. I say yes. (note we're not actually going to drink it, we are both chem and bio geeks though and I say yes and he says no.) I think you'd die almost instantly, right? He says you wouldn't because its the same...
  30. A

    Naturalist view on Death, Nothingness and Subjectivity

    The following link will direct you to a very well written essay of a naturalist's view on death: http://www.naturalism.org/death.htm It is entitled: Death, Nothingness and Subjectivity Author: Thomas W. Clark It is the (untestable) theory of "generic subjective continuity". It proposes the...
  31. O

    Texas death row inmate pulls out eye, eats it

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090110/ap_on_re_us/death_row_eye I can't believe they're going to execute him at all. If this isn't proof enough that he's insane, what would be? Here's his offender info: http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/thomasandre.htm
  32. J

    Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Death by Black Hole

    Listen to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, author of Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries. Tells the entertaining story of what it's like to be sucked into a black hole. http://fora.tv/2008/02/19/Neil_DeGrasse_Tyson_Death_by_Black_Hole"
  33. 0

    Can a Downgraded Video Driver Solve the Blue Screen of Death Error?

    I started playing the game Spore today, but the game keeps crashing with the blue screen, something about ialmdev5.DLL error. Please help.
  34. R

    Stellar Formation, Life, Death - Temp, Radius, Luminosity

    How does the temperature of a star relate to the radius of a star? How does the mass of a star affect the temperature of the star's core? How does the luminosity of a star relate to how long a star will live? How do the spectral lines of a star determine if the star is a first generation...
  35. B

    Death of a Black Hole: Does It End in Neutron Star?

    I've heard that black holes disappear when they are done. Doesn't it make sense to say it would end in a form like a neutron star?
  36. S

    Medical Bringing Back Life: The Mystery of Natural Death

    If someone dies in a hospital a member of medical staff tries to brings their heart back to life, sometimes this works. Why if someone dies of nateral causes can't their heart be braught back to life after a while?
  37. L

    Boy, 8, shoots himself to death at Mass. gun show

    Boy, 8, shoots himself to death at Mass. gun show http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081028/ap_on_re_us/boy_shoots_himself
  38. O

    Escape Death and Prison: Balancing the Antidote Pill

    You are a prisoner in the king's dungeon. You just learned that the food you ate was poisoned. The king has given you a chance to escape death and to be released from prison. You have been given a balance (which you can use no more than three times) and 12 pills with no perceptible...
  39. Math Jeans

    Skype Blue Screen of Death: Causes and Solutions

    Hi. I have an HP Pavilion dv6000 running Window's Vista with a 2.0 GHz processor and 3 GB RAM. For some reason, whenever I have a video or voice chat on Skype (version 3.8), my computer gives me a Blue Screen of Death. As you may guess, this is very annoying when trying to have formal...
  40. Ivan Seeking

    Death to Mickey Mouse - Soldier of Satan

    http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2008/09/17/islamistc-says-disney-character-mickey-mouse/is-satanic-and-should-be-killed.html So Zapper, what do you have so say for yourself?
  41. Loren Booda

    Fate of matter with universal heat death

    Assuming the eventual heat death of the universe, would there be a time when all matter becomes superconducting, or manifests as quantum condensates?
  42. A

    Why following Gossip and Fashion really is a Matter of Life and Death

    I wrote something which I believe gets to the origin of fashion and gossip in a simple and logical way. I would be happy with any comment on whether it makes sense to you or not. Why do women find it important to be in on the latest fashion trends and gossip? Fashion's use couldn't be just...
  43. E

    Have You Accepted Death? Share Your Experience and Age

    Here's my definition of 'Accepting Death': To accept death is to be ready to die, free from stress, anguish, or personal emotion. Personal emotion is limited to self inflicted emotion. A counter example to personal emotion would be emotion that one has because of someone else's emotion, i.e...
  44. S

    Is there life after death according to MWI theory?

    Please correct me if i am wrong. As per MWI,when an observer open the box,schrodinger cat will be alive in one world and the same cat will be dead in other world. If we replace the cat with human,then the dead human and alive human will be different worlds.so,my curious question is does this...
  45. Ivan Seeking

    Brain Death in Frogs: Is it True?

    I just heard a scientist say that when frozen, frogs have NO brain activity, but that they can still be revived. Is this true? I knew that frogs could be frozen and revived, but I had never heard the claim about brain activity. If this is true, then when is a frog brain dead, and what is the...
  46. C

    Achieving Academic Success After High School Burnout

    I used to be an extremely good student in grade 8, top in my grade in the sciences, and pretty darn good at math. I won every single academic award available to my grade. Grade 9 was similar...but I was already beginning to burn out. Grade 10, I got a new "kickstart", because I had this...
  47. S

    Solve BSOD Problem: ialmdev5.dll Stop Errors

    hey, I've been having BSOD problems lately, when trying to play a game I keep getting them: ialmdev5.dll stop errors, non page fault (or something of the like), I tried installing new video drivers from dell.com but it didn't help at all. I attached my dxdiag, any help is great, thanks!
  48. E

    Is Identity Death Possible Through Brain Damage?

    Alright, I'll need some help formulating this, since my writing tends to be... well... just not very eloquent and representative of my thoughts. I don't believe in soul, afterlife, or other nonsense. I think our self, our consciousness, is a function of our complex brains. For what...
  49. siddharth

    Burma: Cyclone Nargis Death Toll Rises to 22,000

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7385662.stm These satellite images vividly show how bad the damage was. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7389848.stm Here's the BBC webpage on how you can help http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7389735.stm Unfortunately, the moronic and xenophobic...
  50. O

    Troubleshooting Blue Screen of Death on Windows XP - ialmdev5.dll error

    Hi. Yesterday I was playing a game (Morrowind Tribunal) and when doing certain actions (resting, equipping things) I got the blue screen of death with a file ialmdev5.dll I wouldn't be so mad if it would only happen once, but it happens all the time. Here are my system spec: System...
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