Weird Question about a Corpse Bag.

Blood Legend · 10-04-2016, 03:23 AM

Lets say I put a dead deer in an impenetrable plastic bag about twice the size of that deer in volume. Would the bacterial culture that turns this thing into soup ever completely die off (granted its few exposures to the outside world are light and heat variations) or does it just keep changing into different ecologies and perpetuate forever?

I swear this is GURPS related.

Celjabba · 10-04-2016, 03:33 AM

Pretty sure we had someone post a full analysis of a sealed body bag content evolution a while ago. It may have been on the mailing list, however.

Flyndaran · 10-04-2016, 03:57 AM

Decomp would progress rapidly until all free oxygen is depleted. Then MUCH slower anaerobic organisms would take over.
Some very anoxic peat bogs have yielded up some fleshy corpses after centuries.

It's not really important if some natural environments have life that can survive in what that bag would hold if none of them were locked in there to begin with.

Anders · 10-04-2016, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blood Legend

I swear this is GURPS related.

Someone has a rare 3e supplement you desperately want?

Anaraxes · 10-04-2016, 07:42 AM

I'm sure the FBI agents will be able to explain it to you when they show up to investigate why you need to know the answer to this question on the Internet :)

Fred Brackin · 10-04-2016, 08:15 AM

[QUOTE=Blood Legend;2046603 does it just keep changing into different ecologies and perpetuate forever?

I swear this is GURPS related.[/QUOTE]

Why yes it is. There's a page on decomp in Gurps Bio-tech. :)

Of course it doesn't go on forever. Without an ongoing energy input that'd e perpetual motion. It only goes on as long as a viable population of some kind of organism can harvest the stored chemical energy in the carcass.

Anthony · 10-04-2016, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blood Legend

Lets say I put a dead deer in an impenetrable plastic bag about twice the size of that deer in volume. Would the bacterial culture that turns this thing into soup ever completely die off (granted its few exposures to the outside world are light and heat variations) or does it just keep changing into different ecologies and perpetuate forever?

Absent an external energy source, all reactions die off eventually. Given an external energy source in theory you could have some sort of soup that would last indefinitely, but in practice it almost certainly won't.

ericthered · 10-04-2016, 12:19 PM

of course, biological corpses tend to be full of energy, and a lot of decomposition is about harvesting that energy.

But without oxygen... I suspect peat bogs are a great place to research, as mentioned.

Anders · 10-04-2016, 12:26 PM

Wikipedia on anaerobic decomposition.

10-04-2016, 03:23 AM	#1
Blood Legend Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The Fine Line Between Black and White	Weird Question about a Corpse Bag. Lets say I put a dead deer in an impenetrable plastic bag about twice the size of that deer in volume. Would the bacterial culture that turns this thing into soup ever completely die off (granted its few exposures to the outside world are light and heat variations) or does it just keep changing into different ecologies and perpetuate forever? I swear this is GURPS related. __________________ . ( )( ) -This is The Overlord Bunny o(O.o)o -Master of Bunnies O('')('') -And Destroyer of the Hasenpfeffer "This is the sort of relatively small error that destroys planetary probes." ~Bruno

10-04-2016, 03:33 AM	#2
Celjabba Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Luxembourg	Re: Weird Question about a Corpse Bag. Pretty sure we had someone post a full analysis of a sealed body bag content evolution a while ago. It may have been on the mailing list, however.

10-04-2016, 03:57 AM	#3
Flyndaran Untagged Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon	Re: Weird Question about a Corpse Bag. Decomp would progress rapidly until all free oxygen is depleted. Then MUCH slower anaerobic organisms would take over. Some very anoxic peat bogs have yielded up some fleshy corpses after centuries. It's not really important if some natural environments have life that can survive in what that bag would hold if none of them were locked in there to begin with. __________________ Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check.

10-04-2016, 07:42 AM	#5
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Weird Question about a Corpse Bag. I'm sure the FBI agents will be able to explain it to you when they show up to investigate why you need to know the answer to this question on the Internet :)

10-04-2016, 08:15 AM	#6
Fred Brackin Join Date: Aug 2007	Re: Weird Question about a Corpse Bag. [QUOTE=Blood Legend;2046603 does it just keep changing into different ecologies and perpetuate forever? I swear this is GURPS related.[/QUOTE] Why yes it is. There's a page on decomp in Gurps Bio-tech. :) Of course it doesn't go on forever. Without an ongoing energy input that'd e perpetual motion. It only goes on as long as a viable population of some kind of organism can harvest the stored chemical energy in the carcass. __________________ Fred Brackin

10-04-2016, 12:19 PM	#8
ericthered Hero of Democracy Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: far from the ocean	Re: Weird Question about a Corpse Bag. of course, biological corpses tend to be full of energy, and a lot of decomposition is about harvesting that energy. But without oxygen... I suspect peat bogs are a great place to research, as mentioned. __________________ Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!

10-04-2016, 12:26 PM	#9
Anders Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden	Re: Weird Question about a Corpse Bag. Wikipedia on anaerobic decomposition. __________________ “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius