[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)