Death
hideDeath is the permanent termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical enquiry. Many religions maintain faith in either some kind of afterlife or reincarnation. The effect of physical death on any possible mind or soul remains for many an open question.
Animals almost without exception (see hydra) die in due course from senescence. Intervening phenomena which commonly bring death earlier include malnutrition, predation, disease, accidents resulting in terminal physical injury, or, in extreme circumstances, grave ecosystem disruption. Intentional human activity causing death includes suicide, homicide, and war. Roughly 150,000 people die each day across the globe. Death in the natural world can also occur as an indirect result of human activity: an increasing cause of species depletion in recent times has been destruction of ecological systems as a consequence of the widening spread of industrial technology.
Death in this context is now seen as less an event than a process: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible. Where in the process a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of legal death. A patient with working heart and lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring. Precise medical definition of death, in other words, becomes more problematic, paradoxically, as scientific knowledge and technology advance.
For more information about Death, read the full article at
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News tagged with death
Older adults may have a higher risk of complications and death after abdominal surgery
Dec 21, 2009 |
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The risk of complications and early death after commonly performed abdominal surgical procedures appears to be higher among older adults, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery.
Naturally occurring lipid blocks RSV infection in lungs
Dec 21, 2009 |
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Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered that a naturally occurring lipid in the lung can prevent RSV infection and inhibit spread of the virus after an infection is established. RSV is the major cause of hospitalization ...
Search results for death
Immersive Game System Allows Physical Interaction Between Players
Technology / Computer Sciences
8 hours ago |
4.3 / 5 (9) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- With a new immersive multiplayer game system, researchers are further blurring the line between gaming and the real world. Using a mouse and keyboard sounds kind of quaint compared to the ...
Air bags not a risk to pregnant women in motor vehicle crashes, study finds
8 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new ground-breaking study from University of Washington researchers has found that air bags do not seem to elevate risk of most potential adverse outcomes during pregnancy.
Researchers creating model of HIV care for developing nations
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
22 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Expanding Michigan State University's global health outreach, a team of researchers is working in the Dominican Republic to establish a model for HIV/AIDS care that can be exported to other resource-limited ...
Heart transplant patients appear to have elevated risk for multiple skin cancers
23 hours ago |
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Many heart transplant patients develop multiple skin cancers, with increased risk for some skin cancers among patients with other cancers and with increasing age, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of ...
Study: Sticking with heart rehab boosts survival
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Medicare beneficiaries with heart disease who attended more cardiac rehabilitation sessions had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to die within four years than those who went to rehab less, researchers ...
Scientists retrieve Caravaggio's presumed remains
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 21, 2009 |
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Italian scientists Monday collected from a small chapel bones that are presumed to be the remains of celebrated Renaissance artist Caravaggio who died 400 years ago.
Ancient Pacific islanders brought to light
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 21, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (4) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A find of 60 headless skeletons summer 2009 may reveal the identity of the people who first inhabited the Pacific Ocean archipelago Vanuatu 3000 years ago.
Study casts doubt on provocative tuberculosis theory
Dec 21, 2009 |
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The tuberculosis bacterium is an insidious germ that can lie dormant for many years, then suddenly emerge and cause potentially fatal disease.
Medical simulators can breathe, bleed, give birth -- and help students hone skills
Dec 21, 2009 |
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It was a high-stress situation for three nurses who had never delivered babies: A woman was 32 weeks pregnant, in pain and having contractions.
Health Care bill clears key Senate test
Dec 21, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (5) |
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(AP) -- Landmark health care legislation backed by President Barack Obama passed its sternest Senate test in the pre-dawn hours early Monday, overcoming Republican delaying tactics on a 60-40 vote that all ...
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