# Practical uses for corpses
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 11, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213 "2018-04-11T14:12:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/1 "2018-04-11T14:12:28Z")
In _Brave New World_, IIRC, bodies were incinerated at power plants. (IIRC, the upper classes thought it was unfair that poor people’s bodies should make the same amount of power as theirs.)
In _Soylent Green_ the dead were processed into food wafers.
I’ve mentioned this one before: Although they don’t do it in _The Walking Dead_ (as far as we know), the animated corpses could be rendered to make bio-diesel fuel.
Each of these have moral/ethical problems, but they seem practical given the situations.
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/2 "2018-04-11T14:33:39Z")
In _ **Serenity** _, corpses were used as a disguise for the Reevers.
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### Author:  [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/3 "2018-04-11T14:50:33Z")
In _Waterworld_, corpses were IIRC [transformed into goo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_hydrolysis_(body_disposal)) and used as hydroponics fertilizer.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/4 "2018-04-11T15:32:29Z")
In _300_, the Spartans just piled 'em up and pushed the corpse-wall onto the bad guys when the next wave showed.
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### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/5 "2018-04-11T15:39:25Z")
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: While in the catacombs, Indy crafts a torch out of a human femur.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/6 "2018-04-11T15:46:03Z")
Wow, if Voldemort were to read this thread, he’d probably come away thinking that his turning them into Inferi was relatively staid and conservative.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/7 "2018-04-11T15:54:52Z")
I’m going to go with my suggestion for Chum Disposal.
Just park a ship several miles out to sea with a large chipper on the back. Feed in the bodies and let the ground remains fall into the sea where they’ll feed the fish, crabs and other sea creatures.
Even makes fishing easier. Just sail out to the same spots, the fish will gather expecting a feast, net them up.
_♫ The Circle of Life ♫_
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/8 "2018-04-11T15:56:02Z")
> **[101 Uses for a Dead Cat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Uses_for_a_Dead_Cat)**
>
> 101 Uses for a Dead Cat, by Simon Bond (1947—2011), was a bestselling collection of macabre cartoons. The book was promoted with the tag line, "Since time immemorial mankind has been plagued by the question, 'What do you do with a dead cat?'" It consisted of cartoons depicting the bodies of dead cats being used for various purposes, including anchoring boats, sharpening pencils and holding bottles of wine.
> First published in the UK in 1981 as A Hundred and One Uses for a Dead Cat, the collection...
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/9 "2018-04-11T16:04:55Z")
> [@Chimera](#):
>
> Just park a ship several miles out to sea with a large chipper on the back. Feed in the bodies and let the ground remains fall into the sea where they’ll feed the fish, crabs and other sea creatures.
Which reminds me:
[Fish, and plankton, and sea greens, and protein from the sea…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKROeWxZHfg)
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/10 "2018-04-11T16:10:55Z")
> [@Chimera](#):
>
> I’m going to go with my suggestion for Chum Disposal.
>
> Just park a ship several miles out to sea with a large chipper on the back. Feed in the bodies and let the ground remains fall into the sea where they’ll feed the fish, crabs and other sea creatures.
>
> Even makes fishing easier. Just sail out to the same spots, the fish will gather expecting a feast, net them up.
>
> _♫ The Circle of Life ♫_
So, kinda like a precursor to _Soylent Green_killed the oceans)?
(spoiler added for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t seen _Soylent Green_)
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/11 "2018-04-11T16:19:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Which reminds me:
>
> [Fish, and plankton, and sea greens, and protein from the sea…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKROeWxZHfg)
I remember that scene. When I saw _Babe_, and the opening credits showed Roscoe Lee Brown as the narrator, I got a sinking feeling…
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### Author:  [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/12 "2018-04-11T16:35:46Z")
If I came into possession of some corpses and it was anywhere near Halloween, I’d be thrilled. Because hey, free scary porch decorations!
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/13 "2018-04-11T17:02:55Z")
Free scary porch decorations, plus a date for the night!
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/14 "2018-04-11T17:15:00Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#):
>
> Free scary porch decorations, plus a date for the night!
“And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.”
:dubious:
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/15 "2018-04-11T17:31:11Z")
“I love the dead, before they’re cold! Their bluing flesh for _me_ to hold.”
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/16 "2018-04-11T17:36:58Z")
T.S.O.L. _Code Blue_ \* explicit lyrics, in extremely poor taste, etc. \*
[You Are Warned](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8KaNiQ7XIA)
Lying on the table she smiles and she stares
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/17 "2018-04-11T17:50:49Z")
Cheating the HOV lanes?
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/18 "2018-04-11T19:48:36Z")
I immediately thought of [body farms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_farm) which are a real thing that forensic scientists use as a way to study decomposition for the purpose of solving crimes.
Since this is Cafe Society I’ll mention that a body farm was part of the plot on an episode of \*CSI \*and they have appeared in [numerous other](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_farm#In_popular_culture) forms of entertainment.
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### Author:  [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/19 "2018-04-11T20:00:25Z")
Pretty much every action movie has a corpse being used as a shield, either bulletproof (not actually useful unless the man was wearing body armor) or as shield from an explosion (somewhat more practical).
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213/20 "2018-04-11T21:18:18Z")
So, my current Cafe Society thread listing when I opened this showed the following in order:
[ul]
[li]Practical uses for corpses[/li][li]Easy, delicious salad dressing[/li][/ul]
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practical-uses-for-corpses/812213.md?page=2)