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"These data revealed a surprisingly consistent pattern of decomposition throughout time. This pattern shows that as these modern fish decayed, their most recently evolved features -- those characters that are most informative because they distinguish closely related animals within the same lineage -- rotted first. The last features to disappear were more ancient; those that are shared by all vertebrates, such the notochord."
posted by brundlefly on Feb 1, 2010 - 11 comments

From a short distance the male figure almost appeared to be napping among the hummingbirds and squirrels, draped as he was over the pebbled ground. But something about his peculiar pose evoked a sense of grim finality– the body language of the deceased.
posted by punkfloyd on Nov 2, 2007 - 44 comments

Body Farm Background: green burial
posted by Listener on Apr 20, 2007 - 15 comments

Born To Rot. Living people are often deeply disturbed by dead people. Particularly when those dead people have only recently died and are rotting. But what’s the big deal? Are rotting things intrinsically gross? Why does it disturb us so? Is decomposition helpful in attaining greater spirituality, or is it proof of a Godless universe? [many images linked NSFW]
posted by stinkycheese on Apr 21, 2006 - 30 comments

A new way to go How would you like to get to the next world: burial, cremation, or alkaline hydrolysis?
posted by gimonca on Jul 30, 2003 - 8 comments

Although this is dated, it is still interesting. The long-story-short is someone left some spam out on a plate to see if would ever decompose. This person also left out other items for comparison. Check out the archived experiments for past projects and notes.
posted by mathowie on Oct 13, 1999 - 0 comments