When a human body decomposes and turns into warms and insects, is it because of the underground soil?

Question

Some people claim that this is so, while others say that a dead human body will decompose regardless of the precense of soil. I am excluding bodies that are kept refrigerated or embalmed, preserved etc.

Answer 1

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR

A HUMAN BODY TO DECOMPOSE?


Jamie Downs, chief medical examiner of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, replies as follows:



The rate depends on the environment and the state of the body at the time of death.



As a rule of thumb, a body exposed to open air will decay the same amount in one day as a body in water in one week and a body buried underground in one month. Heat speeds decay; cold slows it down. Rigor mortis (the stiffening of muscles) and livor mortis (pooling of blood) take place within 12 hours of death. Bacteria in the intestine multiply rapidly as soon as metabolism ceases.


Many factors determine how long it takes the body to decompose from there. Is the body in sun or shade? Is it summer or winter? Are there carnivores or insects around? Almost immediately, blowflies can feed on an exposed body and lay eggs in it. Bodies buried deep in the ground are protected from flying insects and warm temperatures, so they tend to decay relatively slowly. A body in a typical casket burial can take decades to decay down to the skeleton if embalmed properly, or as little as a year if not. But such decay can happen in a week if the body is outside, if it is exposed to carnivores, or if it has open wounds. Conversely, bodies can last centuries in a very hot and dry environment, which dries out the body, or in a cold and wet setting, where body fat turns into a form of soap that acts as a protective covering.

Answer 2

Decomposing bodies DO NOT turn into wOrms or insects! They are eaten by worms and insects.
Of course, ALL dead things decompose regardless of being buried or not. Ever smell road kill? That's the smell of rot, my dear.

Answer 3

Our bodies decompose because of the trillions of bacteria cells on our bodies. We don't have to be in the soil to decompose.

Answer 4

we don't turn into WORMS and insects. They detect our dead bobies and them use them for a variety of reasons. We will decompose no matter were we are.

Answer 5

that's a kinda gross question. the insects find and feed on the bodies.

Answer 6

hehe, our bodies don't "turn into worms." they get infested BY worms if the body is outdoors. the rest of the decomp is due to bacteria in our bodies and in the air.

Answer 7

as soon as something dies, the process of decomposition begins. we have things in our bodies right now, that once we die, will start the process.

Answer 8

we are born with bugs waiting to devoure us nomatter what we start dying at birth were consumed after death