Top 10 Unique Uses for Human Cadavers
10.
Collision Testing
For decades, various news outlets reported that German auto company Daimler-Benz was
having the University of Heidelberg perform crash tests using dead bodies.
Of particular interest was the fact that some of the 300 bodies used between the 1970s and
’90s were those of children.
Protests sprang up over an endeavor clearly meant to save the lives of more children,
because thinking of the children doesn’t extend to those who are still breathing.
Regardless, the practice of using human bodies instead of more expensive crash test dummies
continues in some areas.
Admittedly, the process is ghoulish — just before a body gets used the lungs are inflated
to better simulate a human body.
It’s as if the breath of life is being pumped into them, just so it can be knocked back
out again.
9.
Design and Architecture
You might have heard that there’s a cathedral made of bones in Europe that was built around
the time of the Black Death.
What you’re less likely to have heard of is that there are numerous cathedrals made
with human remains, and they’re not exclusive to Europe.
For example, there’s the Church of San Francisco in Lima, Peru, which has the bones of an estimated
75,000 people arrayed in its catacombs.
These elaborate works raise some uncomfortable questions.
Take the skull chandelier above.
How were the skulls prepared?
Were they put in containers with hungry bugs, boiled, or just dug up?
Why such an elaborate design?
Is that chandelier supposed to invoke someone’s view of heaven?
Hard as it might be to believe, we’re beginning to feel creeped out by the thought of bone
buildings.
8.
Movie Props
There are numerous examples of real dead bodies being used for horror films.
The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre features them.
The Chinese film Men Behind the Sun features an autopsy performed on a real dead boy.
But the taker of the cake baked with people is the indie horror Unrest.
Since the movie is set in a morgue and was shot in a real one, as many real props as
possible were used.
Multiple dead bodies were used for some extremely graphic footage.
In fact, the use of real bodies was a significant part of the movie’s promotional campaign.
Unfortunately for those who posthumously broke into acting, the general consensus is that
Unrest isn’t very good.
7.
Deterrents
We’ve all heard of the idea of putting dead bodies in public places to scare potential
criminals straight.
It’s also hardly a novel notion to tarnish the legacies of tyrants by displaying their
bodies.
It’s a punishment that’s been used all through history and all around the world,
and apparently the primal desire to see our enemies humiliated hasn’t dissipated.
In May 2014, photos were leaked from Syria of crucifixion victims during the Civil War.
And in 2011, photos of the body of Colonel Gaddafi after he’d been beaten and killed
were leaked online, and even intellectuals like Christopher Hitchens admitted that there
was some satisfaction in seeing the dictator dead.
6.
Grafts
Anyone who ever looked at a driver’s license knows that those valuable organs of yours
can be donated in the event of your death.
There’s even an ongoing debate in America over whether people should be allowed to sell
their organs after their deaths for the benefit of their survivors.
To complicate matters, since 1981 there’s been a shortage of cadaver skin to use in
burn treatments, with some areas such as West Texas not having any at all.
Graftable human skin has a shelf life of only one month, and treating a person that has
suffered severe burns can require skin donations from as many as 10 dead people.
So hopefully you can understand why TopTenz fully endorses “presumed consent” in regards
to organ donation.
5.
Art
Art is always looking for a new envelope to push, and what could be edgier than working
with the dead?
The first to achieve fame doing this was Honoré Fragonard (1743-1809), who dug up graves to
find corpses that were essentially turned into statues.
Rather than being an underground artist (except literally during the grave-robbing) he was
officially sanctioned to create these horror pieces.
All sorts of rumors inevitably surrounded the maker of these frightening sculptures,
but according to historical sources that preserve his work he was a pretty regular guy.
4.
Magic Props
In the 1700s, dead tissue was “reanimated” by Luigi Galvani by way of applying electricity
to the legs of frogs.
Despite the scientific applications of the experiment, the show biz implications naturally
took over.
By 1803, Galvani’s nephew was doing public demonstrations of how he could use electricity
to induce movements in cadavers.
In 1818 a demonstration by Andrew Ure supposedly went so far as to make the corpse point a
finger at the audience.
However, public distaste for the practice seemed to quickly put an end to that form
of exhibition.
At least until 2013, when magician Criss Angel used a dead body to spice up one of his illusions
for his show BeLIEve.
The nature of the magic trick was again that he was attempting to reanimate the body.
Supposedly it was done so covertly that the cast and crew had to go to the location of
the bodies while wearing blindfolds.
So you magicians hoping to spice up your next kid’s birthday party gig should realize
how much of a hassle this would be to organize.
3.
Surgical Practice
You would think that in modern times the use of corpses for surgery training would be out
of date.
We have surgical simulation software and that sort of thing, and in fact in the United Kingdom
the use of corpses was illegal until 2006.
But not only are surgeons-in-training still using corpses, new embalming methods are being
researched to allow for more flexible tissue during practice.
Why the removal of organs is permitted but this other use was considered so disrespectful
to the dead that it needed to be outlawed in a way that interfered with the ability
of surgeons to improve their skills is difficult to fathom.
2.
Metal
Speaking of out of date, it seems like even the maddest scientist and most desperate criminal
would have abandoned grave-robbing decades ago.
But in 2004, a strange variation that’s more like “crematorium recycling” began
in the United Kingdom.
The metals that are left over after a body has been burned (artificial hips, teeth fillings,
etc.) are being taken from the ashes of thousands of people, and it’s all perfectly legal.
As of 2013 it was yielding more than 75 tons of metal.
If you’re disgusted by the process, there’s consolation in the fact that it’s making
millions of pounds for charity, and the metal itself is used for everything from street
signs to airplane engines.
For us, it seems a shame how much usable metal is being wasted by burial or was wasted before
the program was started.
1.
Tree Fertilizer
It’s oddly beautiful to picture your nutrients being used to help a tree grow after your
death.
In 2011 the company Bios Urns began offering biodegradable urns which would have a seed
placed in them, so after your short, hectic life is over you can become part of something
peaceful and permanent.
With its color scheme and materials it looks like something Starbucks should be serving
coffee in, but the end result promises to be pretty enough to make up for it if you’re
a nature lover.