Top US scientist and writer sheds light into what happens after death in new theory
A top US scientist has shared a new theory into what happens after we die.
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Explaining the science of what happens post-death, writer and podcast host Neil deGrasse Tyson revealed how the human body breaks down and is consumed by microbes and bacteria, which feeds on a person's chemical energy left behind.
Mr Tyson noted that a person's body is still filled with energy mainly from the food they digested over years, even after the heart and brain stop functioning.
It is then said to be released either by cremation, which sees a person's remaining energy converted to heat after the body is burned, and then travels to outer space.
The other choice is a traditional burial, which lets the body decompose naturally.
This allows the Earth's microscopic organisms to absorb all remaining energy in the continuous cycle of renewal between humans and nature, which is the choice of Mr Tyson.
He said on his StarTalk podcast: "In death, those molecules still contain energy. If I'm buried and I decompose, all that energy gets absorbed by microbes, by flora and fauna dining upon my body the way I have dined upon flora and fauna my whole life.
"In that way, giving back to the Earth."
However, he added that it didn't mean those cremated were wasting their energy, and said their final journey would have more far-reaching consequences, as heat produced by cremating a body does not stay on Earth.
He said that radiation is capable of reaching other planets within the galaxy.
After a person is cremated, Mr Tyson claimed their loved ones could actually keep a timeline of where their energy had flown to in the Milky Way.
He said: "If they were cremated four years ago, they would have reached the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri.
"So that in a way you’re still a part of the universe just in a different form."
His theory is built upon the first law of thermodynamics, which states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed — it can only change from one form to another.
One user wrote: "This is so deep," while another commented: "I will return to the stars."
Another said: "My son we cremated almost 4 years ago. That was nice to hear."