[HN Gopher] The Inventor of the Screw-In Coffin ___________________________________________________________________ The Inventor of the Screw-In Coffin Author : rafaelc Score : 40 points Date : 2022-03-03 21:02 UTC (1 hours ago) (HTM) web link (kottke.org) (TXT) w3m dump (kottke.org) | ch wrote: | Considering how difficult it can be to install a fence post in | glacial till, this sounds like a less than exciting proposition. | dade_ wrote: | gnfargbl wrote: | Would it be possible to make a version of this in of some kind of | biodegradable material? | | I would like to convert my physical form into a tree or similar | after death (rather than something inefficient like burning, or | horrific like being mummified in a lead box). This seems like it | could be an interesting option for that. | trhway wrote: | reminded - very popular Ukrainian message these days, on TV and | everywhere, to Russian soldiers is to carry sunflower seeds in | their pockets so at least sunflowers will grow when the | soldiers die on Ukrainian land. | conductr wrote: | I did this with a pet dog weighing about 80 pounds. I think | this device would just get in the way honestly. | | Tips: Don't start with seeds. Use a tree farm sized tree (I | think mine was 100 gallon container). Or something established. | Growing trees from seed is time consuming and the slightest | thing can kill it. Now, since you already have the need to dig, | toss yourself into a burlap bag and jump in the hole before | placing the tree and backfilling. | | A few years later, the tree is looking great and occasionally I | talk to it when I'm missing that dog. | conductr wrote: | Having used an auger of much smaller size, I can't imagine how | difficult this would be to screw in to compacted soil. | DonHopkins wrote: | I was hoping this was about spacious, softly upholstered, two- | person coffins for live people with vampire fetishes to screw in. | alex_young wrote: | Don't you still have to excavate though? The dirt has to go | somewhere... | | Also, if you were a daredevil type, maybe you could go in head- | first. That's called skeleton right? | polishdude20 wrote: | Yeah that thing would not be easily screwed in by two people by | hand. You'd need a machine | jay_kyburz wrote: | I should patent a coffin bullet that can be used to fire bodies | off into space. | annoyingnoob wrote: | Or into the ground. | supernova87a wrote: | I don't know why "hermetically sealed" is anything remotely | desirable for someone to be buried in. As if you're protecting | yourself from some gross fate of being in the ground. Who cares? | | More gross (if that's your concern) is being a sealed capsule | full of goo that can't escape anywhere for a millennium. Wouldn't | you rather be absorbed back into the earth to be one with the | elements? | jldugger wrote: | Mebbe something about whatever diseases you had leaking into | the water table? | deliberateJack wrote: | A good portion of you goes down the drain and the sewers | probably leak into the water table. | ComputerGuru wrote: | I actually just commented on this very issue in reply to a | tangential question about the direction/orientation of burial | [0]. In Islam, burial should be in a shroud and not a coffin | specifically so that the body may decompose quickly; this is | actually rarely an option due to specific laws and regulations | in Western countries, but it's changing due to ecological | interests. | | [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30547984 | MontagFTB wrote: | My guess is that if the top of the casket is close to the | surface, decomposition gasses would leak out and attract | carrion-eating animals. Not to mention the smell. | Bayart wrote: | If anything, an hermiticaly sealed body is much more | interesting to scientists. See the St Bees man. His 14th c. | corpse was still fresh as his lead casket remained sealed. | onemoresoop wrote: | It is not a bad idea footprint wise for coffins to be standing | up. At first glance the screw-in capsule sounds like a | revolutionary idea too, it could save some time and effort with | digging as well as burial space. In practice it wouldn't work so | well and a pre-hole would need to be done with some machinery. | Second, the cost of the capsule, considering it would be made out | steel would add up quickly too. Still, coffins standing up to | save space would not be a bad idea though I would rather be | cremated so as not to contribute to funerary industry. I'm trying | to picture the whole burial process with the capsule and find it | somewhat comical. Would the family of the deceased have a | ceremony before the capsule is screwed in, after, when it's half | way in? | gleenn wrote: | Inventor: "No more trouble than putting a fence post in" haha. | Something about being buried in the upright position instead of | laying down seems... not very restful. I shudder to think how a | corpse in the upright position would decompose differently. | jandrese wrote: | You end up a pile of bones either way. The dead don't care. It | is the living relatives that will balk. | cortesoft wrote: | I don't think a corpse cares how it rests | hindsightbias wrote: | Guy has obviously not put up a lot of fence posts. | dylan604 wrote: | Phrases like "ashes to ashes", "dust to dust", or "worm food" | seem so out of place now with people being buried in coffins | that don't allow for the worms to feed or the ashes and/or dust | to mingle with the rest of the ashes/dust. | | The whole being buried thing just seems so illogical to me. I | know it means different things to different people, but I just | can't wrap my head around its purpose. | Jtsummers wrote: | > but I just can't wrap my head around its purpose. | | Cultural: To have a place to visit the deceased that is | strongly associated with them, as their body is literally | there (especially for ancestors). | | Sanitation: To keep the rotting corpse away from people and | avoid spreading disease or attracting predators and vermin. | tomjakubowski wrote: | People don't like to see bodies go through decomposition, | especially not loved ones. It's also bad for sanitation to | leave bodies lying around. | | Burial rites are also a way to create a wedge to separate | your culture from those that cremate bodies. | dylan604 wrote: | Cremating bodies doesn't leave "waste" lying around either | though. Can't get to ashes to ashes without fire. | irrational wrote: | And yet, we know the people have been burying people for as | far back as we can go. Are we too removed from it now that it | seems strange to us? Maybe death has become too sterile and | removed from our everyday existence. And modern medicine has | made it so we don't die as quickly as we used to. | dylan604 wrote: | Aren't there certain customs from various religions that dictate | how followers are to be buried. I know some are supposed to lay | facing east, but maybe I'm forcing the "lay" part in there. Would | this work as long as the last twist had the person facing east? | | So many questions. Like, why do we bury anyways, blah blah, but | don't want to dig that hole. | ComputerGuru wrote: | In Islam, the dead should be buried on their right side facing | towards Makkah, but that's somewhat of a moot point since it | should be in a shroud (not a coffin) allowing their bodies to | return to the earth (not for spiritual reasons celebrating | unity with Mother Earth or for reincarnation like some | religions or cultures, more that the body is just a vessel that | has served its purpose and should be allowed to decompose back | to its source materials). | | This coffin-less burial was largely forbidden by western laws | and customs so Muslims have typically opted for the "plain pine | box" option but there has been a new, secular resurgence of | interest in this for ecological reasons and some zoning | laws/cemeteries are beginning to allow this in the USA and | elsewhere. | arghwhat wrote: | In a thousand years a religion will dictate that one has to be | screwed into the ground to a certain torque specification... | 2muchcoffeeman wrote: | Could you screw it in at an angle? Must the body be horizontal | or is 45 degrees fine? | alliao wrote: | find a cliff face and i'm sure this would work side ways... | might even double as walkway anchor points... | dylan604 wrote: | These are the pointless religious debates that just seem | comical to me. Similar to the recent thread on if it was okay | for Catholics to partake in chocolate. The fact there was | continual debate throughout history is just so funny to me. | Tabular-Iceberg wrote: | > Similar to the recent thread on if it was okay for | Catholics to partake in chocolate. | | Intriguing. Do you have a link? | ntrz wrote: | The patent does say it can be installed at various angles, | illustrated in figs. 25 and 26 (also of interest is fig. 27, | which shows it buried in the bed of a shallow lake with a | duck decoy affixed to the lid). | a9h74j wrote: | Take a look at Figs 38-43. There are sure to be theological | debates about whether one can -- or should? -- be buried with a | proprietary "tamper proof" screwhead. | rolph wrote: | we can take that a step further, and produce a screw-in survival | bunker; it would be a lot like boreing a caisson into position | then making a suitable doorway and overburden. | ceejayoz wrote: | The slogans could be fun. | | "Got a screw loose? Get a screw in!" ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-03-03 23:00 UTC)