Was passiert wenn ein Mensch brennt?

New Scientist hat einen Artikel über das Verbrennen von Körpern. Interessant …

First, he says, the thin outer layers of skin fry and begin to peel off as the flames dance across their surface. Then, after around 5 minutes, the thicker dermal layer of skin shrinks and begins to split, allowing the underlying yellow fat to leak out.

„That’s when the fire gets most interesting,“ says DeHaan. Body fat can make a good fuel source, but it needs material such as clothing or charred wood to act as a wick. Like that in a wax candle, a wick absorbs the fat and pulls it into the flame, where it is vapourised, so enabling it to burn.

Assuming there is sufficient wick material, the body can sustain its own fire for around 7 hours. During this time, the heat causes muscles to dry out and contract, making the limbs move and sometimes adopt characteristic postures (see illustrations). Bone takes longer to burn, so by the end the skeleton is usually laid bare like a charred anatomical model, coated in the greasy residue of burned flesh.

Klingt nach einem netten BBQ Abend ;-)

via Nerdcore