[ExI] freeze and shake

[Damien Broderick]

On 5/18/2010 1:19 PM, spike wrote:

> I countersuggested having one's
> remains frozen inside a steel container submerged in liquid nitrogen, then
> the container is shaken violently until the remains are shattered into pea
> sized granules, then scatter the still frozen bits into the sea, or over a
> wide unimproved area by hauling a miniature manure spreader with a bicycle,
> whereupon the fragments will be devoured by ants upon thawing.

Freeze-dried burials to go global
2010-05-20 16:46

Hong Kong - Amid the potato starch coffins and biodegradable urns at a 
recent Asian funeral expo, a freeze-dry burial technique similar to 
cremation, but without the pyres, stood out as the ultimate green 
alternative.

The brainchild of a Swedish biologist, the "promession" technique, due 
to launch in Sweden and South Korea next year, takes some getting used 
to: liquid nitrogen is used to super-freeze a corpse, which is then 
shaken until it disintegrates into a pile of dust.

"The body really falls apart when it's really cold and that was 
something that I felt was appealing and clean," said Susanne 
Wiigh-Masak, who pioneered the sci-fiesque cryogenic method.

The crystallised body particles are then filtered of heavy metals like 
mercury and buried in a biodegradable container to nourish the growth of 
a plant or tree in a memorial park.

Whereas buried bodies can take many decades to decompose fully, the 
atomised particles from promession break down after six to 18 months, 
shrinking and completing a certain cycle of life.

After nearly a decade of trials and development and having to overcome 
major ethical and legal challenges to her controversial method, 
Wiigh-Masak said the first "promatorium" will finally open in Sweden 
next April and process up to 1 500 bodies a year.

This will be closely followed by South Korea, which is building at least 
thirteen sprawling memorial parks across the country to accommodate 
freeze-dry burials on a far larger scale.

The 'Resonator'

"This is going to be the future solution for Korea," said Wiigh-Masak 
who said her technique had the tacit support of the Korean government 
and at least 18 million members of the Korean Christian Church who say 
they're willing to be frozen at death.

"Traditional burials as they are today (in Korea) may not be allowed in 
future," she added, saying most graveyards in the country were now 
running out of space.

With a growing awareness of climate change and sustainable development 
fuelling development of cleaner, greener technologies, other techniques 
have also been invented.

A "Resomator", for instance, uses alkaline hydrolysis to reduce a corpse 
into a white powder and murky liquid intended to be flushed down the 
drain without polluting the environment.

With the world's population booming towards seven billion, such 
alternatives could prove to be a viable green and space saving solution 
to dealing with the 60 million or so people who die each year across the 
globe.

"It's really a good chance for the planet I think," said Wiigh-Masak.

While only a handful of other places are on the verge of passing 
legislation to allow promession such as Scotland, Wiigh-Masak said. 
Sixty countries had expressed an interest so far, including Hong Kong, 
China and Taiwan, given their dense urban centres and shrinking space 
for accommodating the dead.

"It would be great for Hong Kong," the biologist said.

- Reuters