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. Ivan Seeking

    Archimedes' Death Ray: Myth or Reality?

    http://web.mit.edu/2.009/www/experiments/deathray/10_ArchimedesResult.html
  2. E

    Is This Proof, There is Somthing After Death

    In Einstein great equation E=Mc2, I believe there is proof of something after death in that famous equation. You are neither your body nor your brain; you are the electrical current running through your brain. Our brains allow us to store information, yet people live with damage brains. If our...
  3. B

    Circular Motion - Wall of death Problem

    Homework Statement Total mass = 260 kg Coefficient of Friction = 1.00 r = 4 m gmax = 4 g a) Find the minimum speed to keep the rider on the wall of death. b) Find the maximum speed inside the wall of death of the motorcycle based on gmax Homework Equations \mu x...
  4. C

    Estimate the power of the laser on board of Darth Vader's Death Star

    The laser is able to vaporize an Earth sized planet in about a second.
  5. F

    News Has the US Military Death Toll in Iraq Reached 4000?

    So the Easter celebrations in the Vatican, in Afghanistan, Iraq etc have been in the news all weekend; meanwhile... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7310924.stm
  6. Math Jeans

    Why do I consistently get a Blue Screen of Death on Wednesdays at the same time?

    Hi. A while ago I got a new, fully loaded, great speced computer, and for the past few weeks, I have been getting the BSoD. However, what is confusing me no-end, is that I always get it once a week, on a wednesday, at around the same exact time during the day +/- 10 minutes. Any...
  7. G

    Near Death Studies - Consciousness After Death

    Do you guys consider the "research" for consciousness after death 100% bogus? http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=98447&page=1 http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2002/10/55826 http://www.iands.org/research/important_studies/dr._pim_van_lommel_m.d._continuity_of_consciousness.html
  8. K

    Did You Know Feynman Played the Bongos?

    By luck I happened to be reminded today that Feynman died 20 yeays ago, on February 15th, 1988. A sad day for the physics community.
  9. B

    Wall of Death in amusement park - Find number of revolutions

    Here is the question: The Wall of Death in an amusement park is comprised of a vertical cylinder that can spin around the vertical axis. The radius of the cylinder is 3.5 m and the coefficient of static friction between the rider and the wall is 0.32. Find the minimum number of revolutions per...
  10. K

    Is the Russian Helicopter Death Ray Based on Multi-Beam Klystron Technology?

    hi i was wondering about the russian helicopter death ray and if it was based on the russian multi beam klystrons and all in one technology. does it use tesla multi beam technology? thanks
  11. W

    Is Losing Your Memory Equivalent to Dying?

    Say that you were swapped back to the past, be it yesterday or 10 years ago, without having any memory of having lived in the future. Would you consider this some sort of death? After all, your current self would fall out of existence. Whatever is your stance on this, it brings an interesting...
  12. V

    Bacterial death in a growing population

    Hi, I'm writing to you as a graduate applied math student who has taken a recent interest in biology and the modeling of all kinds of microbiological systems, something I plan on continuing with in my PhD. As such, I'm modeling biology without knowing as much about it as I should :P My...
  13. wolram

    Carrying Our Own Death: Inside the Bug-Infested World We Live In

    Reading some trivia trash us humans are carrying our own death with us, unless we die through accident, we also live in a bug infested environment, we all swallow several spiders, sleep with bugs and eat bugs, makes joyful reading not, oh and it is no good having a bath we can not drown the...
  14. S

    Heat Death of the Universe: Exploring an End

    what is heat death of universe?
  15. B

    Mysterious Death: Man Found Hanged in Empty Room

    A man is found in an empty room hanged by a noose hanging from the ceiling, which is the only thing in the room other than himself at the time of discovery. How did he do it?
  16. D

    Solving the Limit Problem of Death: A Tricky Mathematical Challenge

    [Solved] Limit problem of death \lim_{x\rightarrow{\pi/2}} (x*tan(x) - \frac{\pi}{2*cos(x)}) OK. I'm not sure how to begin this problem because: 1) tan(pi/2) is undefined and 2) pi/2cos(pi/2) is undefined also! Any hint would be great! Thanks
  17. 1

    Death by Shockwave: Effects of Naval Cannons in 1800s

    I'm not in the medical field and it has been a long time since my college physics courses so I turn to you folks for a possible answer and further explanation. It has been brought up on another forum concerning naval battles in the age of sail about the phenomena of sailors being killed or...
  18. L

    Is anyone baffled by the thought of their own death?

    Every now and then I think about how someday I'll be dead and I'll never experience life as a human again. I just can't picture my eyes closing for the final time and never awaking again. It's actually rather depressing to think about. I kind of wish the universe gave us everlasting life. But...
  19. S

    How would the be without no life after death belief?

    Would everyone be selfish? Would there be patriotism? What would happen? I believe right now athiest are nonselfish because they get love which was started by theistic so once the wheel gets rolling trust revolves around. However, from the beginning, if nobody believed in the concept of sin...
  20. G01

    Death Cat: A Mysterious Companion

    Death Cat?? Is this cat the grim reaper, or just a companion for those who need it most? http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/25/death.cat.ap/index.html
  21. P

    Understanding the Expansion of the Universe Through Low Mass Star Death

    Hello, I really need help answering this question. I know when low mass stars die, they become white dwarfs (if their mass is less than 1.4M). But I don't know why the end points in the life of low mass stars help astromomers to understand the expansion history of the universe. How...
  22. E

    Falling to Earth from 100,000 Miles - Can You Die by Impact?

    Hi everyone -- I'm brand new here and didn't really know where to post this question. It's just that some friends and I were drinking beer last night and we began to wonder about something. If you were on a stationary (non orbiting) platform 100,000 miles from Earth and you stepped off of it...
  23. Ivan Seeking

    News The girl who was stoned to death for falling in love

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=455400&in_page_id=1879 So, we were going to make this place a democractic society? Did the men throwing the stones and filming with their cell phones vote? Thanks to the internet, once it gets out, news like this...
  24. Ivan Seeking

    No More Sunsets: The death of a meth addict

    http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/27/meth.death.ap/index.html This film is being touted as deadly effective. I have watched or known people struggling with abuse or addiction to various drugs - alcohol, pot, lsd, cocaine, heroin, uppers and or downers, nicotine and caffeine, but I have never...
  25. N

    Medical Can Near Death Experiences Be Explained by the Pineal Gland and DMT?

    The human Pineal Gland holds DMT. I want to know how much it holds and how long of a trip it will cause. DMT is supposedly the catalyst to near death experiences. The Pineal releases lots of DMT before we die. WHile it might be a hallucination it might not be internally generated. Information...
  26. R

    Kuwati royalty sentenced to death

    And if as if that weren't harsh enough... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/kuwait_ruling_family
  27. G

    All are bound to celebrate the year while Saddam faces death

    The high point of the year is drawing near, that is, it's end, however, it's pretty interesting that today's date may also coincide with Saddam's hanging; whether it was supposed to provide meaning to the event or the date was chosen to de-emphasize his death...probably both. Most individuals...
  28. S

    Design Your Own Death Star | DeathStarDesigner.com

    Build your own death star here: http://www.deathstardesigner.com/ Here's mine: http://www.deathstardesigner.com/station/5224
  29. R

    What is the Definition of Plant Death?

    What definition is used to determine the moment of death for a plant as an organism?
  30. F

    US man burns himself to death (war protest)

    http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2006110800212324 just crazy...
  31. P

    All death caused by lack of oxygen to brain

    I saw this in a locked topic: Who is right?
  32. M

    What is the scientifical explanation of death?

    what is the scientifical (phycisistic) explanation of death? and what's the point in doing anything if we're just going to die? please, keep it short/simple, couse my head aches, and my english sucks..
  33. R

    Watched a participant jump to his death

    If everyone else jumped off a bridge... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061021/ap_on_re_us/bridge_day_death :devil:
  34. P

    What Happens After Death? Exploring the Possibilities of an Afterlife

    ...and i don't mean in the long run, the second you die, what do you feel?, see? or does everything just stop and your just gone spiritually and mentally because you need your brain to think? i mean, what would be of you? would you just be reborn? go to heaven? and this brings me to my next...
  35. Astronuc

    Colliding With Death at 37,000 Feet, and Living - NYTimes

    This is amazing! http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/business/03road.html The Brazilian (GOL) airliner which crashed in the Amazon jungle with 155 people hit a private jet at 37,000 ft. The airliner went down quickly, the small private jet landed safely at a military airport hidden deep in...
  36. A

    What Makes You Fear Death? Share Your Reasons Here

    Do you fear death? Post your reason. I was inspired to post this by the "Death is..." post.
  37. A

    Option 12: What Happens After Death?

    Option 11: I'd rather not think about it Option 12: _________ (fill in the blank) The options above influence our expectations of everlasting life in this world; those options that presume to hold any promise of life beyond death weaken the motivation to seek effective solutions to (1)...
  38. K

    : Planck/Einstein and death of the universe

    I don't expect anyone to get this, but it's worth a shot. Maybe someone will impress me. Mathematically relate Planck's Quantum mechanical equation and Einstein's equation of the law of conservation of energy to the heat death of the universe (Remember that the head death of the universe...
  39. Pengwuino

    How Scorching Are Temperatures in Your City?

    So how ungodly hot is it where you live right now? MSN says to expect a high of 109 today. Currently it is 111. It wasn't until midnight last night that it went under 100 degrees. People's pools are probably evaporating as we speak. I know everytime i look outside my eyes start smoking.
  40. S

    What causes death and how can we prevent it?

    Hi, I was wondering that what causes a man to die, naturally. If he is constantly being damaged then how do young kids get better day by day rather than getting more sick. If it is b/c after a certain age, our cells stop growing(not reproducing), then why is that? What causes it to?
  41. A

    Death Sentence Vs Life Imprisonment

    Should capital punishment be abolished and replaced with life imprisonment ? Is death more humane as compared to almost 15 years of rigorous confinement ? Do you think some criminals actually deserve the ultimate punishment ? I feel death penalty should indeed be abolished .It doesn't make...
  42. brewnog

    Can an A380 Land at Death Row?

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,1778038,00.html Yessss!
  43. L

    Medical Science Of Near Death Experience

    Religious people believe in NDEs but there's debate in Science. They say it's just a hallucination. What if you're hallucinating about something real? Blind people could help solve this. Habe any blind people with the visual part of their brain permanentlydamged ever had a near death experience?
  44. Mk

    A little piece of philosophy, about life and death

    Some people compare us to Diogenes, carrying his lantern in the dark, searching for the truth. Indeed, we sometimes feel that way, looking in the dark. But I think a more accurate metaphor is that of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was a character in Greek mythology. If one believes Homer, Sisyphus was the...
  45. D

    The Near Death Experience, Out of Body Exp and their ontological interpretations

    I'm interested in hearing other peoples thoughts about the NDE and OBE. I shared my idea about it in another thread hoping to start a debate, but it got somewhat lost, so I think its a good idea to start a separate thread. What do you think about the reality of the NDE and what it (could)...
  46. L

    Methods for finding the age of fossils at death

    I'm curious in the processes used to date the age of a human fossil, not in terms of how many thousands of years ago the human died, but the age of the human when they died. Are there any special processes that are used to determine this, or are humans mearly matched up in terms of degeneration...
  47. S

    News Army to Launch Probe Into Tillman Death

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/04/AR2006030400860.html It's been two years why they just starting to lanuch a crimnal investegation? I don't watch football.But I'am kind of intersted to see what if it was propous what was the motive.
  48. Ivan Seeking

    Faces of Death: The Impact of Seeing Death in Movies

    Note that the thread title is also the name of a series of six [or so] videos that were popular some years ago. They were nothing but videos of people and other animals being killed, and often in the most gruesome of cicumstances. Something that caught my attention is the idea that today...
  49. F

    Surviving 5 Physics Classes: Tips to Avoid Death from Exhaustion

    I now understand why most people will never take more than three major classes per quarter. I have five physics classes this quarter. I have one midterm tomorrow and 3 on monday. I've studying everynight until about 2 or 3. I was doing lab work and studying till 3 yesterday. On a side...
  50. SOS2008

    News Is Criticizing Government Leaders Considered Sedition?

    http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/sedact.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11345744/ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=100199563 1 Trotsky? Reminds me of this: This is from a speech by former CIA officer Jim Marcinkowski, now running for Congress in...
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