Big Picture Science: The Decomposers
What happens
to us after we die is as much a question for anthropology and ecology as it is
for theology. Death and decay are not comfortable subjects, but some scientists
study them unflinchingly, knowing that doing so yields valuable scientific
insights about decomposition. We hear about The Body Farm at the University of
Tennessee, Knoxville where forensic anthropologists dissect how variables, such
as weather and insects, affect the rate of decomposition, and why a cadaver
island has its own ecology. Plus, how a mystery about Neanderthal diets was
solved by studying maggots, and why a chemical element discovered by
alchemists, and recycled at death in your garden, is essential for life.
Guests:
- Giovanna Vidoli – Forensic anthropologist and director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- Dawnie Steadman – anthropologist and former director of the Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- Melanie Beasley – Biological anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology at Purdue University
- Jack Lohmann – author of “White Light: The Elemental Role of Phosphorus in Our Cells, in Our Food, and in Our World”
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/the-decomposers
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