Everyday Dying

I've recently had a break from writing posts as I was busy working and travelling. However, as I have a bit of time this evening, I wanted to share my experience from the amazing attraction, which I had an opportunity to attend during my visit to Amsterdam, Holland, where I went last month. The Body Worlds is well known to be a rather controversial set of exhibitions containing real dissected bodies of humans (coming from willing donors) and animals, preserved via a method known as plastination. The technique was developed by the founder of the Body Worlds, Gunther Von Hagens, in order to conserve specimens, so that they do not smell or decay. It is done by replacing the fat and water within the bodies with plastics. From experience, I can say that the method works amazingly well as during my time at the exhibition I could not smell anything bad, only a slight smell of plastic. Labelled plastinate of a human heart. While it is common for other people (such as my poor mot...

Immolation refers to deliberate causing of death by means of burning. Sometimes self-immolation is carried out as a means of sacrifice, although the method was predominantly used for carrying out executions since the early human history. Usually the prisoner would be bound to a large wooden stake and fire would be lit up underneath them. If the fire was large, the condemned would often die by Carbon Monoxide poisoning, before being burnt alive. However, if the flame was small, the body would catch fire while the prisoner remained conscious and their flesh would burn for a period of time, until death occurred due to loss of blood, body fluids, thermal decomposition of vital body parts or heatstroke. Image of an execution by burning, from page 528 of "L'Histoire d'Angleterre depuis les temps les plus reculés ... racontée à mes petits-enfants ... recueillie par Madame de Witt. ... Ouvrage illustré, etc", property of the British Library.  During the process, t...