Does human spontaneous combustion ever happen?
Question
In the newspapers, they reported "spontaneous human combustion". Has it ever actually happened, and if so, how and why?Sonia, Soho
Answer
** Definitive **Name: Carly, Wood Green
Qualification: I asked in physics class at school!
Answer: It’s something that’s been neither proved, nor disproved. There has been about 300 cases in the last 200 years and most had a lack of thorough evidence. In the right circumstances, with not too much oxygen in the air, the fat in the body can act like the wax of a candle and simply burn away. But it’s never been proved to be spontaneous. The ones that had photographs, they found a cigarette, candle or cooker in the background.