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Post by jonjel on Sept 26, 2011 11:03:07 GMT 1
I caught a brief news report last week in which a Coroner in Ireland had ruled that a man had died from 'spontaneous combustion'
Since the human body is composed of approximately 60% water I am wondering how that is possible, regardless of the quantity of liquor consumed the previous night.
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Post by principled on Sept 26, 2011 18:47:12 GMT 1
Jonjel I noticed a report about this "on line" as well. It would seem the coroner was very reluctant to bring in this verdict, for obvious reasons. In this case there was a fire in the grate and it could have been that his clothes started to burn, melting body fat and so acting as a wick! They say that the "burn" must be slow as very little of the surrounding area is burnt. I have to say, like you, it all sounds very hypothetical. Still, we need to keep an open mind, after all up to last week we were told that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light!
Talking of physics, where is STA? P
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Post by jonjel on Sept 27, 2011 9:29:22 GMT 1
Principled.
I did not read any detailed reports, but I think the verdict was a bit off the wall. I know there are various materials and some plants (the burning bush of biblical fame) that will spontaneously combust, but that is almost certainly a chemical reaction.
I would have thought misadventure would have been more accurate, unless he had been trying to light his own farts of course.
As for STA. No doubt she has got a little bored with the only topic that seems to be aired on this board!
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Post by skeptic on Feb 5, 2012 20:47:41 GMT 1
The reason for this was found almost four decades ago but it is still a mystery to most people.
It was found that some people could have a body resistance of upto half a million ohms and like a Leyden Jar they store static electricity instead of continually losing it. Such people have made metal door knobs smouldering hot by just using them.
The actual combustion often only needs something like a person to wave their hand and a sudden discharge that incinerates them from inside like an electric furnace, leaving them charred while their clothes may show just minor burning has happened in full sight of others without any visible cause.
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Post by principled on Feb 6, 2012 12:58:13 GMT 1
Skeptic
Any chance of a link on this? P
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Post by skeptic on Feb 13, 2012 19:33:41 GMT 1
I read it in a book in the early 70's on strange phenomena, etc. As I remember it was investigated in a proper scientific manner. Not a clue as to what it was now. There was lots of them about in those days, ranging from serious to ridiculous.
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Post by yellowcat on Mar 22, 2012 18:24:52 GMT 1
It was found that some people could have a body resistance of upto half a million ohms and like a Leyden Jar they store static electricity instead of continually losing it. Such people have made metal door knobs smouldering hot by just using them. The actual combustion often only needs something like a person to wave their hand and a sudden discharge that incinerates them from inside like an electric furnace, leaving them charred while their clothes may show just minor burning has happened in full sight of others without any visible cause. Total woo woo rubbish. There is no evidence for spontaneous human combustion. Do the math a human body 60-70% water, how much energy do you think would be needed to instantly vaporise that? In all alleged cases clothes were burned. Bodies have burned but that can be explained by the wick effect following ignition from an external source, it take a long for the body to burn to ash, usually the extremities remain.
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