What Happens to Me After I Die?

You might think it's lonely trapped in a small dark box, six feet underground.

But that couldn't be farther from the truth. After all, you won't be alone in  your final resting place.  You'll have billions of tiny microbes and thousands of knowing insects, hungry for your company. Death might seem like the end, but it is really just the beginning of an eventful and pretty predictable process that turns the walking, talking version of you into a grinning skeleton.

Join us today as we break down the stages of decomposition with all the gaseous odors and waxy residue along the way.  We'll explain how we measure these stages, why they happen and how they can even help us solve crimes. Welcome to our first spooky episode of the 2024 season, where we go on a journey to discover what happens to your body after you die.

That's what you're in for today on Impolite Society.

Sources:

https://aboutforensics.co.uk/decomposition/ 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7752770/#:~:text=These%20results%20provide%20insight%20into,to%20decay%20during%20human%20decomposition.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/rigor-mortis

https://www.vice.com/en/article/7b775g/how-to-avoid-being-an-exploding-corpse-814 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10816357/ 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320798000354?via%3Dihub 

https://www.dal.ca/news/2020/10/29/life-after-death--how-insects-rise-from-the-dead-and-transform-c.html#:~:text=Insects%20start%20arriving%20in%20the,Sarcophagidae%20(flesh%20flies)%20families.&text=These%20early%20flies%20seek%20out%20prime%20real%20estate%20to%20deposit%20their%20eggs. 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dust-to-dust/#:~:text=Marbling%20occurs%20after%20several%20days,one%20of%20its%20offensive%20odors.&text=After%20about%20a%20week%2C%20the,liquefy%20the%20body's%20soft%20tissue. 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321792 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554464/