Why Flies May Be the Future of Forensic Science
We still know very little about the insect species that colonise a cadaver. But the latest published study from Sibyl Bucheli’s lab at Sam Houston State University, Texas, suggests they are far more diverse than we had previously imagined. The study was led by Bucheli’s former PhD student Natalie Lindgren, who placed four cadavers on…
How Nature Can Mummify Your Brain
Brain tissue is very soft and full of water, and through autolysis it usually begins to decompose rapidly after death. Nevertheless, it can sometimes be preserved. In 1998, archaeologists excavated the fossilised remains of an 18-month-old infant from a burial site near Quimper in France. The child had died about 700 years previously, and its…
What Gives a Decaying Body Its Distinctive Odor?
Dead bodies give off a distinctive, sickly-sweet odour that’s immediately recognisable and hard to forget. The smell of death can consist of more than 400 volatile organic compounds in a complex mixture. These compounds are produced by the actions of bacteria, which break down the tissues in the body into gases and salts. The exact…
