'Human composting' is an eco-friendly burial method legal in only a few states

Alkaline hydrolysis—dissolving the body—is one 'green' burial option

This approach, which is sometimes called flameless cremation, involves dissolving the body with water and chemicals. The remaining bone fragments can then be spread like ashes. It was reportedly incorporated into the funeral industry in 2011.

Cremations are America's top choice for postmortem body treatment

Though this process is the most popular one, more Americans are becoming interested in "green" burials that don't involve slowly degrading coffin materials, toxic embalming fluids or emissions from crematoria.

A deep dive into how a body decomposes

Dead bodies are, understandably, scary and unsettling. Learn about the fascinating process of decomposition that takes place in every human, and how its teeming with life.

Utah is the ‘greenest’ state to die in—determined by burial emissions and green options

This map ranks each US state based on accessible, sustainable burial services and recent emissions from people’s burial decisions. Utah, Colorado, Washington, and Vermont are ranked as the greenest options.

You can sign up to donate your body to science

It's a separate process to donate your body for medical research; you usually must contact a whole-body donation program directly. Bodies can be donated for medical research, for forensic analysis research, or for medical students to work with as they learn anatomy and surgery, among other purposes. Learn more about numerous accredited organizations that provide human bodies, organs, and tissues to medical researchers and students.

'Donation after circulatory death' is on the rise

This occurs when a patient in a coma is on life support and family members agree to donate the organs. Watch this video about a 2025 New York Times investigation that identified 12 instances across nine states of bungled or premature attempts to retrieve organs from people whose families had authorized withdrawal of life support.

The human body relaxes upon death, including the bowel and bladder, expelling urine and feces

Watch a hospice nurse walk through how death affects the human body and what to expect in the hours and days following the death of a loved one as the body breaks down.

When is it OK to dig up the dead?

Human bones tell stories that would otherwise be lost to history. But archaeologists are increasingly confronted with demands to let past generations rest in peace, according to this article.

Most biodegradable plastics don’t break down in everyday conditions

Despite their eco-friendly name, biodegradable plastics often require industrial composting, which most areas lack, to decompose the uncommon compounds found in them. This means they may linger in landfills or contaminate conventional plastics in recycling bins.

More than 40 states have passed versions of the Uniform Declaration of Death Act

The 1981 model law, now enacted in most states, is the legal basis for death in the US. There have been many efforts to amend this law, citing the need for more transparency to improve trust between families and the medical profession, though none have moved forward. Alterations to the law could have implications for organ donations and removing life support.

Landfills capture methane gas and convert it into usable energy

As organic waste breaks down underground, it produces landfill gas that is roughly 50% methane. That gas can be captured and used to generate electricity or provide heat for nearby homes and businesses.

Mummification involves drying a body to preserve it long-term

It was a common and respected practice in many ancient societies. The Egyptians perfected the ritual as part of their religious views of death, believing the dead needed to remain physically intact to reach the afterlife. Mummies were common also in ancient China, Mesoamerica, and the Canary Islands.

Biological terraforming studies have been conducted at Biosphere 2

The experiments involve populating barren hillslopes within the Landscape Evolution Observatory with microbes that react with air and rock to produce molecules needed by more complex organisms. Mosses and other simple plants can then grow in these spaces, gradually making them more hospitable to humans.

Fossils form in environments where dead organisms can be rapidly buried

Such landscapes enable corpses to be encased by terrain before significant decay occurs. They are most commonly found in river deltas and sinking coastal regions, where sediments accumulate over time until geological forces expose the areas to erosion, revealing embedded fossils.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Ghost weddings used to be more common

Ghost weddings are marriages between two deceased parties, or one living and one dead partner. They satisfy departed family members’ needs for companionship and peace in the afterlife, according to Chinese spiritual beliefs. Unfortunately, since ghost marriages are pricey and can include the mingling of mortal remains, murderers and grave robbers have, at times, sought to supply spouses through nefarious means.

As of 2025, perfect synthetic replication of natural organs remains elusive

Advancements such as 3D printing muscles, performing vaginal reconstruction with colon tissue, and growing organs in a lab have shown promise, but artificial options and transplanting substitutions continue to exhibit functional and performance limitations compared to their natural equivalents.

Learn about unconventional ways to clean up crude oil, including using moss and chickens

Studies show that microorganisms in chicken manure can break down the hydrocarbons in crude oil without producing toxic by-products. Scientists have also explored avoiding the environmental risks of chemical dispersants and synthetic adsorbents by using human hair and peat moss to adsorb crude oil, which can be taken up by their cuticles and porous structures, respectively.

Fecal transplants can help treat infections

Fecal transplants aim to transplant healthy gut bacteria into ill patients by transferring (literally) samples of human waste from a healthy patient to a sick patient. The technique has been shown to cure otherwise deadly Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections and is being studied for a range of other uses.

The ritual burns of California forests

Many ecosystems around the world have adapted to regularly occurring wildfires. Some human cultures saw the advantage of such fires and integrated them into their community rituals. Learn about similar tribal traditions looking to better manage California's forests today.

In the US, 'organic food' is defined by the USDA

Food products can only be classified as “organic” if they meet the standards defined by the US Department of Agriculture. For crops, that means avoiding prohibited substances and genetic engineering, among other requirements. For livestock, that includes a minimum number of grazing days.

What is Swedish death cleaning?

Popularized in 2017 by Margareta Magnusson and her book "Döstädning: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning," Swedish death cleaning is a cultural practice that encourages older folks to organize (and often donate) their belongings before they pass. This article explores the reasons behind the practice and explains how it can alleviate stress around death.

My experience with biohacking

A general approach that employs technology to enhance the functioning of the human body, biohacking enthusiasts are continuously seeking new ways to optimize their performance. Martin Kremmer, an entrepreneur who became interested in the topic after experiencing burnout, explores his own experiences in biohacking his own diet and lifestyle in pursuit of a longer, healthier life.

How to consider the ethics of 3-parent IVF, which is illegal in the US

Ethical concerns with this controversial procedure include that a little bit of a child's offspring would be from a third person and that the decisions made with this pregnancy will affect numerous generations, making a permanent change to the gene pool.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

Take a 360-degree look inside Hong Kong's coffin homes

Hong Kong's lack of affordable housing is forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to live in "coffin homes" — a tiny partitioned apartment that is about the size of a coffin. Experience life inside a coffin home through this 360 VR video.

Why don't humans hibernate?

Hibernation is a superpower in the animal world that allows certain species to time travel from difficult times to abundance. This essay in Aeon explains this helpful natural process and why humanity's technological advancements may have hindered our ability to participate in the practice. Learn about the rising interest in human hibernation as a result of modern adversity, and if it could potentially become a reality.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.