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. JamesU

    Tragic: Colombian Man Accidentally Kills Nephew Trying to Cure Hiccups

    http://www.nbc30.com/news/6426207/detail.html sad...but it's hard to feel bad for someone so stupid (the uncle):rolleyes:
  2. Mk

    Can lack of sleep really lead to death?

    It looks like people can die from lack of sleep. How do they die?
  3. A

    Urgent: Finding time of death (without using calculus)

    Hey I need help from this as soon as possible. My teacher has given me 2 equations and I need to use them to estimate the time of death of a discovered corpse. 1. \frac {\Delta T_{1}}{\Delta t} = -k_{1}(T_{1} - T_{2}) 2. \frac {\Delta T_{2}}{\Delta t} = -k_{2}(T_{2} - T_{1}) I think...
  4. Ivan Seeking

    News The Heroic Actions of Hugh Thompson Jr. in My Lai Massacre

    Hugh Thompson Jr. died of cancer last Friday. His is a story worth knowing - he and a few others were the heroes of My Lai. And heroes they were... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/06/60minutes/main615997.shtml The Heroes of My Lai...
  5. F

    Solving the Blue Screen of Death (BoSD) Problem

    Hi. Yesterday, I was playing a game (Warcraft III) when suddenly system stops and I get a BoSD... It stated something like "A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage blah blah blah blah, Technical information ***STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC000005, 0XBF04DF7B...
  6. Z

    Could Black Holes Survive the Hot Death of the Universe?

    I have a question about the hot death model of the end of the universe. If the current expansion of the universes was to slow down and eventually the universe started to contract ( I know very unlikely but…) would the matter in the universe coalesce into black holes, before the temperature...
  7. P

    Medical Is it possible to think oneself to death?

    Suppose u have a perfectly healthy individual. Is it possible for him to think himself to death? Some ideas i had: For example by meditating so intensively that one feels the ego dissolve and consciousness leave the body. Another example is this part in the matrix where they say: "if you...
  8. E

    Death Zone of an Artillery Cannon.

    nomenclature: vi = initial speed, z = height x,y are the 'ground', φ = elevation angle of the barrel, α. = α 'dot' = dα/dt, α: = double dot show that an artillery cannon can hit a target anywhere in the surface given by: g²r²=(vi²)²-2gz(vi²) ignore air resistance. no wind. note: this is...
  9. Ivan Seeking

    News Murtha's Death Blow: End of Bush & GOP Running for Cover

    When they turned on Murtha they killed themselves. I think that's it. Bush is dead and the Republicans are running for cover. It's time to clean house!
  10. A

    News Is it Time for a Change in US Policy Towards Iraq?

    Maybe this is a good time for Bush to stop and rethink the path he has chosen with regard to ME policy in general and Iraq in particular. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4372634.stm
  11. J

    Motorcycle Wheel of Death

    Motorcycle Wall of Death Some pointers would be greatly appreciated please. A motorcycle is slowing down, but maintaining its height on a 'wall of death' (a vertical cylinder where the motorcycle 'drives' around the inner circumference as a stunt). A spectator takes timings in...
  12. R

    Exploring the Wave of Death in Spacetime

    According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pp-wave_spacetime "the wave of death is a gravitational plane wave exhibiting a strong nonscalar null curvature singularity, which propagates through an initially flat spacetime, progressively destroying the universe" I did a spires search...
  13. Lisa!

    My kind of death - Funeral at Age 28

    How: I like just getting up in the morning and see I'm dead! :rolleyes: Time: 1 of the autumn's mornings! Age: 28 (Just for the hell of it, I don't mind living longer too o:) ) Funeral: In acold morning with a few people (I hate crowd :-p ) Song in my funeral: No, please. I want to...
  14. L

    Fear of Death: A Philosophical Inquiry into Coping with Uncertainty

    First, there are no religion specifics here anywhere. It is simply a question by philosophical reasoning. To me and many others, this seems the most important question that one can make a decision on, in duration of their life. And I have not seen this type of question in here yet. And I...
  15. Lisa!

    The Debate on Death Penalty: Fair or Unfair?

    What do you think of death penalty? Is it fair or unfair? And could help to decrease the crime rate?
  16. dduardo

    What are some of the standout tracks on Death Cab for Cutie's new album Plans?

    I'm probably not the only one here that likes indie-rock. Having just been released, what do you think of Death Cab for Cutie's new album "Plans"? I think is a great follow up to "Transatlantiscism" which I enjoyed tremendously. As always this band has great lyrics, but their albums always feel...
  17. S

    Exploring the Expansion of the Universe and Heat Death

    I have been reading the archives of Physics Forums, some threads about the expansion of the universe and also the upcoming Heat Death that people keep talking about. However, there are a few things that keep bugging me: First of all, atoms have not so far shown any tendency not to cluster...
  18. Lisa!

    Feeling bored? Need suggestions for surviving a quiet PF?

    Any suggestion?
  19. Lisa!

    Knowing Your Time: What Would You Do If You Knew When You'd Die?

    What would you do if you knew when you'd die? Would it make any difference in your life? What would you do if you knew you would be alive less than 1 year(or 1 month, 1 week...)? :rolleyes:
  20. P

    What is the true cause of natural death?

    What is the "cause" or meaning of the term natural death?
  21. R

    The Death of the Centre of Mass Theorem.

    Many people believe that the Centre of Mass Theorem is a powerful and useful tool in Newtonian Mechanics. In fact it is a farce. (1) It is trivially true at distances in which the massive object is virtually a point-mass, such as between distant stars. (2) It is completely incoherent and...
  22. Lisa!

    Evo, a Hero for Defeating Death and Achieving Eternal Life

    Those who wants to live forever should be happy.Evo's killed death!You're a hero,Evo.Nobody hasn't done what you did.I'm proud of you. :!)
  23. Pengwuino

    News Is DNA the Key to Proving Innocence on Death Row?

    "innocent people on death row" I constantly hear that the greatest argument against capital punishment is "there are people on death row right now who are innocent". Now what is the proof/de-bunking proof to this statement and idea?
  24. Pengwuino

    (Bullets + you) / e = death, but why?

    (Bullets + you) / e = death, but why? :) lol ok I am wondeirng something. When your hit with a bullet, what really kills you? Shock, loss of blood, what? Or well, I've been told its loss of blood but why would losing blood kill you? Whats the actual biological process/problem that arises that...
  25. Cyrus

    The Chain Rule, death to anyone that breaks the rule

    Ok so I am reviewing multivariable now that i have some time; (why is it taking me so long to grasp some of these concepts!? :mad: ) anyways, and I am reading the proof of stokes theorem. The book I use is Stewart, but it seems to be ripped off word for word from swokowski, which in turn rippes...
  26. DaveC426913

    Build Your Own Solar Death Ray

    Just saw the Mythbuster's ep where they build a fresnel type reflector that focusses the sun's rays. There's a guy online who built a small version of it: http://www.solardeathray.com/about.html Now, there's two things weird about both the construction mechanisms here. 1] In both cases...
  27. A

    Questioning Death: Experiences and Thoughts

    I think it's just that alergy feeling of spring or it might be something else that's getting me down. I've been perticularly thinking about the topic of death alot. I keep on thinking about how when we die, our mind just blink out and then that's it. I know that our lives is so enormously...
  28. N

    Explorer's Logic: Freedom or Death

    heres a good one :devil: An explorer is traveling through the bowels of South Africa and becomes captured. He awakens to find him-self tied-up and if front of the leader of his assailants. He realizes he has been captured by cannibals and as an even more unusually strange twist of...
  29. S

    Kill Tumor Cells w/Osmosis: Active Transport Needed?

    Could a tumour cell be killed in a person by making the cell membrane too permeable to water and so causing tumour cells to swell and burst.Perhaps active transport of some kind would be needed to do this?
  30. P

    Today (April 18, 2005) 50th anniversary of Einstein's death

    Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein
  31. Loren Booda

    Does the physical universe exist before conception and after death?

    If conception and death can be defined as the bounds of life in terms of conventional physics, either 1.) there must be, as we have all witnessed, an outside observer to ascertain (measure) them, and thus some external universe exists beyond this span of life. Observers would neither...
  32. J

    What can we learn from near death experiences?

    With the passing of Pope John Paul ll, perhaps some reflection on religious beliefs is appropriate. Religion is defined as a set of beliefs concerned with explaining the origins and purposes of the universe, usually involving belief in a supernatural creator and offering guidance in ethics and...
  33. I

    In Memory of Starchild: A Tribute to a Good Soul

    A discussion member in one of the places I hang around did commit suicide. I recently know it and it made me so sad reading all his posts and realize that he now is gone forever. It was difficult holding back the tears seeing a young good person is not here any more. He was a good member and...
  34. M

    News Polls: How Do You Feel About the Death Penalty?

    I was had the news on this morning as I was getting my breakfast in the kitchen. Normally its too early in the bloody morning to really pay attention to what is being reported. However in my quest to get my coffee, I heard something mentioned about the death penalty in the states. I thought...
  35. L

    The Inanimated Universe: From Birth to Death

    Imagine the inanimated part of the universe (which I am going to call "X"). In the past, there was your birthday. In other words, a part of X (which I am going to call "Y") was turned animated. In the future, there will be your deathday. In other words, Y will be turned inanimated.
  36. H

    Hell all me life or death situation

    hell all please help me life or death situation the starship enterprise wishes to fly to a distant galaxy 85 light years away. at what speed would it have to travel in order that the distance to the galaxy would only be 20 light years? :rolleyes: a movving particle has a rent mass which is...
  37. H

    How Does Changing Charge Magnitude and Distance Affect Electrostatic Force?

    1. The electrostatic force between two point charges is 1.2 x 10^-2 N. If the distance between them is doubled, the charge of one of the point’s doubles and the charge of the other point triples. What will be the force between them? Kq1q2/r2 3. Two charges one charge +1.5 x 10^-2 C and the...
  38. T

    News US Death Squads in Iraq: Solution or Escalation?

    "What to do about the deepening quagmire of Iraq? The Pentagon’s latest approach is being called "the Salvador option"—and the fact that it is being discussed at all is a measure of just how worried Donald Rumsfeld really is. ... one Pentagon proposal would send Special Forces teams to...
  39. L

    Can you prove me there is no life after death?

    Pretty please!
  40. T

    Is Fear of the Unknown Worse Than Death?

    When it comes to death I ask my self what is worse.Tomorrow or death,its hard to say death because we are not dead .
  41. matthyaouw

    Human Death: When Is It Truly Final?

    From a biological point of view, when can a human be considered dead? after brain activity ceases? after the heart stops? after all human cells cease metabolic function? If a human brain were to cease functioning, but the body is kept going on a life support macine, with all basic functions...
  42. C

    Unintelligent ramblings regarding life after death

    This question is for people who believe in life after death. If death is the termination of life, than can it be proven to exist? If it is the intermission between two streams of life than can the length of death be measured? Or, is death just an intangible concept like absolute zero? Is...
  43. S

    Creating a Normal Model with Death Rates by Year

    Hi everyone! I need some help. I have to make a normal model from the following data: Year...Deaths Country ...or area/,per 1,000 ...population 2005 , 8.25 2006 , 8.26 2007 , 8.26 2008...
  44. robphy

    Bryce DeWitt: Physicist & UT Austin Professor Dies at 81

    Bryce Seligman DeWitt, Jane and Roland Blumberg Professor in Physics, Emeritus, at the University of Texas of Austin, died of pancreatic cancer on September 23, 2004. He was 81.
  45. T

    How Do Seat Belts Save Lives in High-Speed Crashes?

    I was standing in the middle of an intersection today. 50mph on one road, stop signs on the the other. I knealt down to pry a cover off of a survey monument when all of a sudden WHAM a cement truck doing about 70 slammed into a little old lady who ran the stop sign. It spun her car around and...
  46. A

    Justice, ending injustice, right and wrong, and death

    A simple yes or no, to satisfy my personal curiousity. Nation X has been killing its citizens by the thousand, stuffing them into mass graves. The estimated death toll is 500,000, and looks like it will reach a million within ten years. Nation Y wishes to invade. For the purposes of this...
  47. L

    Is there a reason to be honest if you don't believe in life after death?

    Just wondering...
  48. R

    Near death experiences. What causes that?

    Near death experiences implie a set of diverse perceptions or hallucinations. Two or three years ago, a team was able to induce with electrodes out of body experiences. What are the biological causes of near death experiences? Is there any explanation from an evolutive viewpoint?
  49. D

    Could Stolen Items Lead to Murder? - The Tragic Case of the Death of Six in Florida

    http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/08/08/bodies.found/index.html :eek:
  50. E

    The thought of death ever hit you?

    Do you ever visualize .. just dieing .. and nothing after... you know... no rencarnation.. no after life... its just over. Sometimes I wish I beleived in some of this stuff...
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