Monday, January 2, 2012

Tech After Death

Dead People Power

A UK Crematorium has plans to go green – by harnessing the heat generated from cremations for power. The power would be generated using turbines, which could produce more than enough electricity to power and heat the building, and any excess energy could be sold to the UK’s National Grid.

Technology Claims Another Victim: The Autopsy

Increasingly, CT and MRI scans are being used in lieu of the autopsy. However, results differ between traditional autopsies and imaging technologies. CT and MRI scans do lower costs, save time, and preserve results, and are therefore likely to continue their use as both a complementary method to the autopsy and as a replacement, unless the cause of death cannot be determined any other way.

Environmentalism After Death

For all the die-hard environmentalists out there, “Bio Cremation” offers a final chance to do something good for the environment. The Scottish firm Resomation has installed its first commercial body dissolving unit at a Florida funeral home. These units cut greenhouse emissions by a third and use only one-seventh of the energy compared to traditional cremation.

Paging Titan A.E.: Scientists Freeze Life to Save It for the Future

In a last-ditch attempt to save the Great Barrier Reef, scientists in the United States and Australia have begun freezing eggs and sperm from the coral, to then fertilize and regrow in the lab. This coral is the latest to join the ranks of species frozen in cryogenic chambers in an attempt to reverse the trend towards extinction, and possibly to prepare future generations of humans for life “After Earth”.

SOURCE: http://www.txchnologist.com/2011/txch-today-tech-after-death

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