The Urban Death Project Natural burial solves many of the environmental and ecological problems associated with traditional burial and cremation. Natural burial is carbon neutral, it keeps embalming chemicals out of the soil, and it allows the body to reenter...
Promession One problem with natural burial is that it’s missing a critical element found in nature, according to Promessa Organic founder Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak. That element is teeth. When an animal dies in the wild, it doesn’t just sit and decompose. It gets...
Microbial Digestion Microbes, tiny one-celled organisms, eat dead things all the time, including human bodies. Kartik Chandran, a Columbia professor and 2015 MacArthur Fellow, is trying to harness that appetite to not only dispose of human corpses, but turn...
What is Killing New Yorkers? New Yorkers, on average, are living longer than ever before – and longer than other American populations. Life expectancy in New York City exceeds 80 years, with the most resourced New Yorkers fending off the Grim Reaper the longest. But...
Alkaline Hydrolysis Turning a body into ash with fire takes a great deal of energy. Turning a body into sludge with water requires a whole lot less. Alkaline Hydrolysis, also known as bio-cremation, flameless cremation, or resomation, is the process of pressure...
Recent Comments