20 facts about death that you dont know

20 facts about death that you don't know

Death is a topic shrouded in mystery and often avoided in conversation, yet it's one of life's few certainties. While many people fear or misunderstand it, there are truths about death that remain largely unknown or misunderstood. In exploring these 22 truths, you'll gain a deeper, perhaps even comforting, perspective on the inevitable end we all face.

facts about death:1st

Burning Up Cremation, where the body is burned in a powerful oven and the remnants are returned to the loved ones, is becoming a popular alternative to burials. In fact, it’s actually surpassed the popularity of burial in the United States, and it’s estimated that by 2040 as many as 80 percent of people may choose cremation. This is because burial plots are becoming increasingly costly, and cremation offers lower costs and increased flexibility. But there’s one common misconception.

facts about death:2nd

Where’s the Ash? We’ve all met someone who had grandma’s ashes on the mantelpiece - or did they? One of the most common misconceptions about cremation is that there are ashes involved - but what is actually returned to the family isn’t ash at all. It’s a fine powder usually known as bone ash, but what it actually contains is the minerals in the bones. The powerful ovens burn away everything else clean, and the mineral content is all that’s left. Still, keep the cat away from the urn. But ashes don’t need to stay on the mantle.

facts about death:3rd

Going Out In Style Cremation ashes are sterile, non-toxic, and odorless, which means they can be incorporated into just about anything safely. So if you want a more permanent memento of a loved one, they can be compressed into gemstones. If you want to celebrate their interests, the ashes can be mixed into paint or used in ink for sheet music. And if you really want to send them out with a bang, companies can mix the remains with gunpowder and design a custom batch of fireworks - a perfect way to send off that rowdy uncle. But one use for cremation remains may last far longer than the person.

facts about death:4th

Growing After Death For the environmentally-minded, there’s a way to leave a positive impact on the world after death. A person is cremated, and their remains are placed in a biodegradable urn alongside a tree seed. The urn is buried in a suitable place, the urn degrades and opens in the soil - and soon a tree grows from the person’s remains. After a few years, the tree becomes a perfect place for the loved ones to gather under the shade their departed family member provided. But around the world, burial rites take on some very unique forms.

facts about death:5th

Make It Loud Funerals are usually solemn occasions, but in New Orleans you might mistake it for a party. With elements taken from African, French, and Black American traditions, these Big Easy funeral processions are led by a big jazz band blowing horns. They play traditional funeral music at first, but after the burial, the tone shifts - and everyone cuts loose. They’ll play upbeat dance marches, the mourners will dance in the streets, and send their loved one off in style. But not all the fun is saved for those who are buried.

facts about death:6th

Smoke and Mirrors On the island of Bali, cremation can be a dramatic, all-day affair. The locals believe that cremation releases the soul and sends it off to its next destination, so it’s common for elaborate cremations and burnings to be held publicly. But none was more dramatic than the cremation of the head of their royal family in 2008. His body was placed inside a massive wooden bull and burned in the presence of a giant dragon statue, in a mass funeral along with 68 other dead. But some traditions are a lot more modern.

facts about death:7th

Fantasy Funeral Have you seen any footage of Ghanian funerals? Those guys like to live it up! Not only do they have some great dances, but they’re known for a unique coffin industry called “Fantasy Coffins”. These are like those race car beds you had as a kid - only forever. People are buried in decorated coffins that look like the thing they loved most in life, ranging from a Mercedes-Benz for a rich man, to a giant bible for a particularly devout churchgoer! In some cultures, the traditions don’t end with the burial.

facts about death:8th

Turn, Turn, Turn In Madagascar, you might be surprised to see people digging up a grave. These aren’t grave-robbers or witch-doctors - they’re the loved ones of the person in the grave. The Malagasy people have a unique tradition where every seven years, they exhume bones, wrap them in cloth, perform a ritual dance, and tell stories of the dead. If you think this probably smells terrible, you’re right - which is why they start by spraying the bones with wine. This next tradition is not for the faint of heart.

facts about death:9th

Burial in the Sky Buddhists believe the body is not important after death, because the soul has migrated to a new being as part of reincarnation. Thus, they pay tribute to the dead and then cut it up into pieces. Rather than burying it where it’s of no use to anyone but the worms, they place the body on a mountaintop and let the vultures pick the bones clean. While it’s an ancient tradition, it’s still practiced regularly in Tibet today. But few places have more unique burial traditions than the Philippines.

facts about death:10th

Smoke ‘em Up The Philippines have many ethnic groups, and many have their own traditions. The Tinguian people have a strange tradition where they give their dead a makeover, dressing them in the best clothes available, and then sit them on a chair at the memorial service. They then place a lit cigarette in their mouth. Hey, at least the dead look relaxed. Another group has a very different tradition.

facts about death:11th

Hollow Ground The Caviteno people live near the city of Manila, but their tradition is definitely not a city one. They bury their dead not in the ground, but in hollow tree trunks. But not just any tree. When a person knows they are nearing death due to illness or old age, they go out and pick their own burial tree. It’s even common for the person to live in a little hut by their death tree while their family works to hollow it out. But whatever the culture, death is the end of the road...right?

facts about death:12th

What Comes Next The belief in the afterlife is common across the world, with almost every religion having some concept of life after death. Some believe in reincarnation, as each soul becomes a totally new person or other being after death. Others believe in ascending to a higher plane of existence or becoming part of some cosmic being. Others believe that the first thing you see after death is a judge - to determine if you’ve lived well enough to enter the afterlife. But there’s no proof of any of this...right?

facts about death:13th

Back from the Dead? Surprisingly, there are a lot of people who claim to have seen what comes after death. These are usually people who nearly died due to their heart stopping and were revived, be it due to a heart attack or a surgical mishap. They often report seeing a white light or hearing voices. One boy, Colton Burpo, even reported seeing heaven and meeting people who were dead before he was born - and wrote a book about it with his father. But are these afterlife encounters proof of anything - or just the brain’s tricks?

facts about death:14th

Closer to Earth Neuroscientists who have studied the brain at the moment of death report that it releases an increased amount of hormones that cause positive feelings at the moment of death. This means that near-death experiences could be caused by these hormones, making people feel at peace and safe during their moment of greatest distress. But how does this explain children knowing things they have no way of knowing? Well, skeptics point at an old-fashioned solution - dad may be coaching his son. Harder to explain is one woman who floated out of her body and saw a pair of sneakers on the hospital roof- only to have a nurse fetch them after she woke up. But has anyone seen...the other place?

facts about death:15th

Oh Hell People reporting seeing the bad ending in the afterlife is much rarer, but those who did come back deeply disturbed. They report darkness, anguish, and distress - and a few have gotten much more detailed. When a man was shot in the head and spent an extended period in a coma, he awoke reporting that he spent that time being tortured in a terrible realm of fire and hopelessness. While he had a religious awakening and wrote a book, most doctors believe this was the product of the brain trauma he endured. But what do those who came the closest to death have to say?

facts about death:16th

Back from Beyond When Velma Thomas had a heart attack in 2008, she took a turn for the worse and was soon pronounced dead. Doctors tried to induce hypothermia to lower her body temperature, but it seemed to be no use, and she was without brain activity for seventeen hours as her family was called in to say goodbye. But when she was taken off life support, she suddenly started waking up? The fifty-nine-year-old woman eventually recovered and came home, but when asked about what she remembered from her time in the great beyond, the answer was...nothing. Death is universal - but a full life means something very different for different beings.

facts about death:17th

The Blink of an Eye The average human lifespan is in the seventies, solidly on the upper range of animals. But some animals live a full life in a much shorter time. Panther chameleons only live about a year, which means the previous generation is almost entirely gone before the next generation hatches from their eggs. Drone ants only live three weeks, dying soon after mating with females. But nothing tops the mayfly, which is born with one purpose - to reproduce. They spend most of their time as nymphs, and only have a total lifespan of twenty-four hours. But some animals can put humans to shame.

facts about death:18th

The Heavy Hitters Elephants are one of the few land mammals with a similar lifespan to humans. If you can’t stand the thought of losing another pet, you might want to consider a Macaw - these colorful birds can live for up to eighty years. Bowhead whales are the longest-living mammal, with lifespans of over two hundred years - one was even found with harpoon fragments from the 1800s still in it! But no large animal tops the Greenland Shark, whose slow growth cycle means they can live up to five hundred years. But for the longest-lived organism of all, you’ll have to leave the animal kingdom.

facts about death:19th

Standing Tall What is the longest any living organism on Earth has escaped death? That would be found in California’s White Mountains - a mighty bristlecone pine tree named Methuselah, for the notoriously long-lived biblical figure. How old is this tree? Almost five thousand years old, which means it has been standing tall on the North American continent before the Great Pyramid of Giza was even on the drawing board. But is death truly an inevitability for everyone - and everything?

facts about death:20th

A Tight Squeeze You might have heard the rumor that lobsters are immortal. Well, that’s obviously not true - they wouldn’t wind up on dinner plates if they were. But these sea crustaceans do not die of old age. They shed their shells and grow a new one, essentially renewing their body periodically. The problem is, eventually they get too big to escape their shell, and wind up getting stuck in an old one and dying that way. Not even the lobster can escape. But one creature might have figured out the secret to immortality.

facts about death:21th

The Immortal Jellyfish One species seems to have the process for avoiding death indefinitely - Turritopsis Dohrnii, a tiny jellyfish found in oceans around the world. They have a full life cycle, until they reach their dying medusa stage - at which point they avoid death by turning back into a tiny ball of cells that begins the life cycle anew. So they renew their life indefinitely - but are they truly the same being, or an identical clone? For a simple jellyfish, there’s really no difference - but for a human with a mind and personality, it’s a much bigger question. But will humans eventually figure out the way to conquer death?

you can read more about it Here.

you can also watch in this regard: