Oregon has legalized human composting • Hacker News Board

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#161

Post by heavyset_go » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 9:40 PM UTC

beambot wrote: post #97

prepend wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cremation will destroy prions. Composting will not. I guess the issue would be with prions from a composting brain getting into food supply. I’m not sure how real of a concern this is as deer with CWD die and decompose and I’m not aware of any transmission in this way.

I was of the impression that Prions are notoriously impervious to heat. They were said to withstand typical disinfecting protocols using an autoclave (250°F for 15-20min). Quick source: > To destroy a prion it must be denatured to the point that it can no longer cause normal proteins to misfold. Sustained heat for several hours at extremely high temperatures (900°F and above) will reliably destroy a prion. https://dw…

Autoclaves are meant to destroy living material while preserving what's being sanitized, while cremation intends to destroy everything and preserve nothing. For that reason, there's a difference in both temperature and exposure times.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#162

Post by incrudible » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 9:40 PM UTC

paulpauper wrote: post #61

Recompose, the country’s first human composting funeral home does it like this: a corpse is placed in a cylinder with organic materials, like wood chips, plants, and straw, then heated and turned repeatedly for several weeks with a hook until it’s broken down into a nutrient-rich soil that can be delivered back to the family or used for planting. It's like what the mafia used to do to dissolve bodies

This is abhorrent, as if it was taken unironically out of a dystopian science fiction novel.

Decomposition is a natural process that happens to any corpse. It does not need to be optimized. That said, it does not need to be slowed down with embalming either.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#163

Post by flycaliguy » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 9:44 PM UTC

lph wrote: post #131

My mother passed away a few weeks ago. It was her wish to go with Recompose. She was a master gardener, and to her, the idea of returning to the ecosystem was so much better than cremation or a cemetery. Through Recompose, her 'soil' will be donated to a reforesting project. As you can imagine, I've ruminated a lot on this lately. What's the purpose of a tombstone, or a plaque, or an urn full of ashes? To memorialize…

I walk around a cemetery as part of my daily walk when I let my mind wander. Two big topics in my town are real estate and reconciliation with aboriginal people. Something about this giant plot of land covered in European names just seems so strange.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#164

Post by drdavid » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 9:46 PM UTC

yosamino wrote: post #159

arkush wrote: post #151

"Recompose, the country’s first human composting funeral home does it like this: a corpse is placed in a cylinder with organic materials, like wood chips, plants, and straw, then heated and turned repeatedly for several weeks with a hook until it’s broken down into a nutrient-rich soil that can be delivered back to the family or used for planting." Every time I read about using human corpses to produce soil, I recall…

I hope when it's time for me, I can simply be flushed down the drain: > Alkaline hydrolysis is also used in the agricultural industry to sterilize animal carcasses that may pose a health hazard, because the process inactivates viruses, bacteria, and prions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_hydrolysis_(body_disp...

I'd like a sky burial in Tibet, but that ain't gonna happen (at least not legally) unless things change.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#165

Post by heavyset_go » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 9:47 PM UTC

dalbasal wrote: post #136

okareaman wrote: post #124

Hallucinogenic mushrooms are legal to grow in Oregon so I'd like have some grown on my composted body and parcel them out for a ceremony of my life

That's a lot of pressure on whoever's propogating them. Better to spread the compost somewhere they already grow (like Oregon) and collect seasonally.

> Better to spread the compost somewhere they already grow (like Oregon) and collect seasonally.

Different species of psychedelic mushrooms have been found in almost all of the contiguous United States and Hawai'i. It used to be thought that the PNW and Southeast US were the only places they grew in the US, but new native species have been discovered in the last 20 years, and some of them are actually quite common, prolific and apparently potent.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#166

Post by matthewmorgan » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 9:48 PM UTC

Aren't humans full of mercury and other nasty substances?

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#167

Post by tcoff91 » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 9:56 PM UTC

01100011 wrote: post #56

ed_balls wrote: post #19

I wonder what is the risk of prions diseases. > A 68 kg (150 lbs) body which contains 65% water will require 100 MJ of thermal energy before any combustion will take place. 100 MJ is approximately equivalent to 3 m3 (105 ft3) of natural gas, or 3 liters of fuel oil (0.8 US gallons). Additional energy is necessary to make up for the heat capacity ("preheating") of the furnace, fuel burned for emissions control, and he…

Or a big friggin fresnel lens.

Sound's like Orholam's Glare from the Lightbringer series.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#168

Post by Y_Y » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 10:17 PM UTC

rjbwork wrote: post #146

dang wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't do this here.

Hey dang, I don't actually understand what the above poster did wrong or why they were downvoted so heavily or why you felt the need to personally reprimand them. Not saying you or anyone else is wrong for doing so, but I feel like something must be going over my head. Can you enlighten me?

If it helps, I'm not sure either. It wasn't a particularly clever joke, and it was a bit gross. I didn't expect to be told off though.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#169

Post by dang » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 10:24 PM UTC

rjbwork wrote: post #146

dang wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't do this here.

Hey dang, I don't actually understand what the above poster did wrong or why they were downvoted so heavily or why you felt the need to personally reprimand them. Not saying you or anyone else is wrong for doing so, but I feel like something must be going over my head. Can you enlighten me?

It wasn't a deep move, just a standard response to an unsubstantive comment, perhaps with a small multiplier for subject matter.

If that still doesn't make sense I'm happy to call it a misfire.

Re: Oregon has legalized human composting

#170

Post by dang » Fri, Jun 18, 2021, 10:25 PM UTC

Y_Y wrote: post #168

rjbwork wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey dang, I don't actually understand what the above poster did wrong or why they were downvoted so heavily or why you felt the need to personally reprimand them. Not saying you or anyone else is wrong for doing so, but I feel like something must be going over my head. Can you enlighten me?

If it helps, I'm not sure either. It wasn't a particularly clever joke, and it was a bit gross. I didn't expect to be told off though.

I post that particular moderation line a lot in a very specific kind of context, which this felt like an example of to me - but I didn't mean it to be a big deal, nor to come down hard on you. I'm sorry if it felt that way!