Cessation of the biological processes necessary to sustain life.
0
votes
1answer
229 views
Why are car seat belts mandatory in some countries? [closed]
Seat belts reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about 50%.
It is compulsory in some countries (several US states, Canada, Australia, most all of European countries, ...) and others are ...
2
votes
0answers
177 views
No kids under 13 in the front seat?
On various pages throughout its Web site, the (United States) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns against seating anyone in the front seat of an automobile [manufactured for sale in ...
3
votes
0answers
336 views
Is the Conditional Risk XKCD comic factually accurate? [closed]
I found the following comic on XKCD
Does this claim have any scientific basis or is it just a joke I didn't understand?
8
votes
0answers
1k views
How did Bruce Lee die?
Bruce Lee was an iconic actor and martial arts instructor who died at a young age.
Wikipedia states:
The preliminary opinion of Peter Wu, the neurosurgeon who saved Lee's life during his first ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
Death by exploding office chair?
Some old news reports "Chinese boy killed when height adjusting mechanism in chair explodes" 1
There are a lot of similar news, all happened in China.
Can this mechanisms explode ?
Is the explosion ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Did Genghis Khan and his troops kill prisoners by banqueting on top of them?
From Wikipedia:
At the Battle of Kalka River in 1223, Subutai's forces defeated the larger Kievan force, while losing the battle of Samara Bend against the neighboring Volga Bulgars – one of the ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Are the chances of dying on the way to get lottery tickets larger than the chance of winning?
I encountered the following claim:
The chances of you dying on the way to get your lottery tickets is greater than your chances of winning
Of course, whether is is true depends on the lottery, ...
2
votes
0answers
424 views
Did Daniel Ekechukwu resurrect from the dead?
According to this four-part report, a man named Daniel Ekechukwu, a resident of Nigera, died November 30, 2001 and came back to life December 2, 2001. A literal and modern resurrection. The same story ...
11
votes
0answers
414 views
Might organ donors be harvested when they could have otherwise lived?
I just read a pretty shocking blog post called "Are you an organ donor?
After you read this, you will change your mind."
Do you wish to be an organ donor? I'm sure many of you have answered yes, ...
17
votes
3answers
7k views
Can popping a pimple in the facial 'danger area' cause brain infection or death?
This story is currently sitting at #13 on Reddit:
TIL that in rare cases, popping a pimple in the so-called "danger
triangle" can lead to facial paralysis, brain infections/meningitis,
and ...
16
votes
2answers
981 views
Is “co-sleeping” (infant sleeps in bed with parents) safe?
Among some circles, co-sleeping is highly advocated for newborns/infants due to ease of breastfeeding and potential developmental bonding to the mother (for more examples, read about proposed ...
4
votes
1answer
322 views
Have more people been killed in Chicago than U.S. troops in Afghanistan?
A tweet from @LeftSentThis stated that
2,000 US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, more than 5,000 people have been killed by gun fire in Chicago during that time.
There are at ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
Can dead men have erections and ejaculation?
This may sounds funny but when I searched about the question over the Internet, I found an overall report which stated as a conclusion:
When the heart stops forcing the blood around the body, it ...
12
votes
0answers
318 views
Have fleas caused more human deaths than wars?
Browsing around I found this question where the user asks "Were more human deaths caused by fleas than wars?" so I started searching around and I found some sources stating this.
In Amateur ...
12
votes
1answer
1k views
Is the last thing a person sees imprinted on their retina?
The scary stories told around the campfire often include people killed by a monstrous entity. Its image, imprinted on the victim's retina, drives the coroner out of their mind.
Has anyone ever ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
Does rabies vaccine have a dangerous interaction with alcohol?
Half a year ago, I got vaccinated against rabies, because I was in a contact with a cat that was bitten by an unknown animal. Better safe than sorry, I went and had my five shots over a period of a ...
10
votes
1answer
4k views
Do birds eat chewing gum they think is bread?
This image popped up in my facebook feed today. Roughly translated it says that chewing gum thrown on the street might be seen as pieces of bread by birds. The birds will then eat it, but it gets ...
2
votes
0answers
2k views
Was the average life expectancy of a US soldier in Vietnam 15 minutes? [closed]
A friend of mine quoted this statistic today and I was a little skeptical. Wikipedia tells me that about 536,000 soldiers from the U.S. went to Vietnam and about 58,000 of them died, but I'm not sure ...
19
votes
3answers
8k views
How much does wet sponge matter in electrocution process?
In Stephen King's novel The Green Mile and it's film adaptation one of the characters (Eduard Delacroix) is getting electrocuted. Before the execution one of the correction officers instead of wetting ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
Are airbags safe or dangerous in case of accident?
I have read and been told that the use of airbags can cause severe damage in case of accident, specially with children and short adults.
However, I would like to know to what extent it can increase ...
8
votes
2answers
937 views
Can shooting someone in the forehead from point blank range not kill him?
I was reading Mathew Reilly's Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves. In the book, a guy is shot in the forehead, but miraculously he does not die because his forehead is that strong.
Is it true, can a ...
5
votes
1answer
50k views
Is the video of the Russian talent show archery tragedy faked?
This video has been around for a few years, but the first time I saw this I was shocked and disturbed.
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fFDEalKXT8 [not safe for work]
I have looked online and have ...
14
votes
2answers
1k views
Have communist governments killed more than 80 million people?
It's May Day, when some people celebrate and others mourn. Specifically there are claims that communist governments have killed 80 to 100 million people in the last 100 years. Are communist ...
19
votes
1answer
4k views
Will sticking a knife into a toaster electrocute me?
As a child, do you remember being told not to stick metal utensils into the toaster to unlodge toast? If by chance that utensil touches the wrong thing inside of the toaster, you could be easily ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
Can decompression after diving cause you to explode?
On the tv show "1000 Ways To Die", a death that is mentioned (Season 1, episode 10, death #710) claims that a girl exploded from what would seem to be decompression poisoning
A female scuba diver ...
18
votes
3answers
9k views
Will a worm, cut in half, survive as two worms?
I have often heard the story that if you cut a worm in half in the middle, both halves of the worm will grow the other part back, and you will eventually end up with two worms.
Is this true?
17
votes
2answers
2k views
Does a hanged man get an erection?
One of James Joyce's characters explains, in his book, Ulysses:
The distinguished scientist Herr Professor Luitpold Blumenduft tendered medical evidence to the effect that the instantaneous ...
4
votes
1answer
7k views
Can you die from breathing your own farts?
I've heard about people dying from being "intoxicated" (I'm not sure if thats the term) from smelling their own farts.
There is a story of a man that actually died:
A terrible diet and room with ...
12
votes
1answer
566 views
Are 10% of deaths in the Netherlands due to euthanasia?
Rick Santorum, one of the current GOP presidential candidates for the 2012 presidential election recently claimed that 10% of deaths in the Netherlands are due to euthanasia and that half of those ...
1
vote
0answers
110 views
Are people still concious after beheading? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Does one remain conscious after decapitation?
Is it true that after you are beheaded, you are still concious for a few seconds, and you can see everything around?
2
votes
0answers
432 views
Was Pakistani President, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, assassinated?
There is a general conception in Pakistan that late General Zia was eliminated by Americans in a mysterious plane crash in August 17, 1988:
The plane went down and then up and eventually hit the ...
14
votes
1answer
909 views
Did George Bernard Shaw convert on his death bed?
I've seen this quote floating around all over the place. It's often used in popular Christian-lite reading (see the first page of the Google Books search for the quote), but is it true? I have never ...
18
votes
3answers
1k views
Could someone dig themselves out of a grave?
Some notable stories and movies show characters being buried alive, and then digging themselves out.
This has apparently happened in reality, such as this story: Girl digs self out of grave, points ...
10
votes
1answer
834 views
Does genital-electrocution of animals cause immediate death?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) claim that fur-farms use genital electrocution techniques to kill animals without damaging the fur:
Animals have clamps attached to or rods ...
14
votes
3answers
9k views
Are more people accidentally killed by doctors than accidentally killed by guns and traffic combined?
The actual claim is something like this
The top five causes of death in the United States, in order, are
tobacco, alcohol, medical malpractice, traffic and firearms. According
to JAMA, doctors ...
8
votes
1answer
960 views
Is it possible to die from laughter?
I was watching University Challenge last night (episode 27 2011/2012 series - UK only), there were 3 questions on people who supposedly died from laughter - Chrysippus, Martin the Humanist and Thomas ...
11
votes
2answers
2k views
Can someone die of poison given years before?
In answering-islam (an anti-Islam site), it is claimed the prophet of Islam, Muhammad died because of poison given to him 3 years ago by a Jewish woman.
Immediately following the conquest of ...
26
votes
2answers
3k views
Do children accidentally suffocate themselves with plastic bags?
My one year old daughter picked up a typical plastic supermarket grocery bag and I watched her with it briefly before taking it away, as it's common knowledge that kids aren't supposed to have plastic ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Do speed bumps cause more deaths than they save?
After a few speeding incidents in a residential neighborhood, some residents will clamor for speed bumps.
In case your municipality does not have one, here is a picture of a speed bump (also AE ...
21
votes
2answers
5k views
Can you be suffocated from being smothered by a pillow?
We've all seen it in movies. A villian suffocates one of his/her victims with a pillow while they sleep, killing them in a matter if a minute or so.
Whenever I've pushed my head into a pillow as far ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Do famous musicians die at the age of 27 more often than other humans?
Since today Amy Winehouse died, she joined the 27 club.
The Club 27 is based around the statement that the death at the age of 27 for famous musicians is more common than in any other group of people. ...
5
votes
0answers
1k views
Are electric chairs powered by generators connected to the mains in the same building?
There's an episode in The Green Mile movie where the death row servicemen rehearse the upcoming execution that is done using an electric chair. One of them says (quoted from here):
Roll on one.
...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
Shouldn't tell about pregnancy in first trimester
We have another baby on the way and I was thinking about asking this previously, but wasn't sure how common it was as our first child predates this site by about 4 years.
Now we have another on the ...
7
votes
1answer
250 views
Does retiring earlier cause one to die earlier?
This article here says that there is a link between retiring early and dying early. Is it true that, on average, early retirees will die sooner than their longer working counter parts? Is this a ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
Can defibrillation revive a flatlined patient?
Wikipedia notes that the technical term for flatline is asystole and adds this comment:
Despite defibrillation commonly appearing on medical dramas as a remedy for asystole, it is usually not done ...
13
votes
3answers
7k views
Are the chances of dying each day 1 : 250 000?
I've read the odds of dying as around 1 : 250 000 each day, which presumably is based on the global death rate. I use this when people buy lottery tickets to point out they have more chance of dying ...
22
votes
1answer
882 views
Is the number of childhood vaccines correlated with infant mortality?
Related
Just how inaccurate are vaccine myths?
Is it dangerous to have several vaccines at the same time?
I was passed along an article reporting that a new study found that despite having the ...
14
votes
1answer
12k views
Will cats eat their deceased owner, but dogs will starve to death instead?
A friend of mine is a former prosecutor for the Crown/State. He's observed that it was often harder to investigate whether a deceased person was murdered when they own cats because the cats will eat ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Can a person still fart after death?
I read it here and i couldn't believe it .
so can a person still fart after dying ?
11
votes
1answer
1k views
Are there incorruptible corpses?
The Roman Catholic Church claims that some corpses have supernaturally slow decomposition. Were those bodies examined by skeptics?
