Decomposition TV

It reminds me to watch "A Zed and 2 Noughts" again. That involved time lapse decomposition.

Man, things like these make my misanthropism even more solidified.

I wouldn't be seen dead on Channel 4.

I dunno, it should be fascinating. It's true that the shock value is probably the prime draw for the station but that doesn't mean the programme will be schlock. And supposedly it will supply much-needed data on decomposition, hence the support of the forensic chappies.

Aren't there decomposition fields in the U.S.? I thought I saw it on some Halloween Special on A&E last year. A lot of the bodies started to become unrecognizable as a human. It was interesting I guess...They had some bodies in grass, under dirt, in the trunk of a car...so that they could study what the body looked like as the hours & days wore on to compare it to bodies found at crime scenes.

Maegan, you may well be right. We in the UK strongly dislike having to rely on American data, however. We want some good old British Made decomposition:)

"At present, decomposition tests are carried out on human bodies in the US but not in the UK ... This project represents an urgently required step forward for forensic medical research in this country." (Quoted in The Guardian)

:-)

The "Body Farm" as it is called is run by UT (University of Tennessee - Knoxville) People donate their bodies after death for decomp in a closed field. They put these bodies in various situations, clothed, semi-clothed, under debris, open air, etc. They use the data for forensic research and such. I'd rather just be put in the ground thank you.

Maegan - you are right. Its a research center located in Knoxville, Tennessee, run (I think) by the University of Tennessee. They take bodies that have been donated and place them in all different places (car trunks, buried in odd places, submerged in water, etc) and study how the bodies decompose in the different environments. Helps investigators determine how long someone has been dead based on the decomposition rate in any given environment a body might be found in.

hey watching a corpse rot will be alot more entertaining and enlightening than "pop idol" "big brother" "im a celebrity get me out of here" or any of the other reality tv trash that is forced down our throats....

.... after the break on tv at the mo will young is going to be looking at teenage runaways.... i am quite disgusted

I don't think I have tuned in to any reality shows because I really want to watch. I've watched part of some because I had a half hour in between other shows & the news or I just couldn't find anything. (I don't have cable or satellite.) I did watch Nanny 911 last week...I thought it was at least interesting. But kids will always listen to a stranger before listening to their parents.

Anyway...if the only channel available was Turner Movie Classics & The Food Network...I'd be a happy camper.

I watched a documentry on The Body Farm not too long ago. Actually it was facinating (though for some slightly disturbing).

I can't stand dead bodies...but I watch without blinking whenever ER or CSI gets a really nasty body!

Once I was pushing some trash into an outside trashcan. When I brought my hand back up there were maggots on my hand. I took a shower 8 times in a row...(I was 8, so I thought 8 would be a good number.) Ever since, I can't touch garbage or look at dead bodies, because I'm afraid I'll see maggots. I guess when it's on TV it seems less real.

Channel 4 here in the UK have already shown a live autopsy. It wasn't that gross though, the old man they used looked like he was made of wax or something. They also had a series of so-called 'lessons' in anatomy, which involved, in the one I saw anyway, hanging a dead lady with a mask on from a beam or something, and this strange looking guy proceeded to take out her digestive organs. He wanted to demonstrate how long intestines are or something. How pleasant, but interesting I guess. Not sure I want to see a fresh one though, both the people he performed on looked like they had been pickled.

However, Channel 4 are quite well known for their use of shocking material, so rotting corpses? I wouldn't be surprised!

I have no problem with dead bodies. It's the live 'bleeders' that bother me. Plus you can trust the dead. I think it would be interesting to be able to tune in and see which stage of decomp the corpse is in today. Of course I enjoy studying that sort of thing. I did a photojournal of a decomposing rat a couple of years ago. I set it in the back yard and took pictures of it three times a day and recorded the corpse's temp, the air temp, general weather and the insects found on it along side the pic.

The 'body farm' has been a very important research tool to forensic professionals. With out it we would still be in the dark ages of forensic research.