spontaneous human combustion

(redirected from Exploding human)

spontaneous human combustion

A process in which a human body allegedly catches fire as a result of heat generated by internal chemical activity, but without evidence of an external source of ignition. 200 cases have been reported world-wide; it is not accepted as a real phenomenon by all scientists and often regard as an urban legend.

Spontaneous Human Combustion, common features
• Body is completely or almost completely incinerated, but nearby furniture that would normally have been damaged at such temperatures remains intact.
• Damage is limited to victim’s clothing, floor, furniture and ceiling where he or she died.
• Fire affects torso; any remaining, unincinerated parts are of the extremities, such as the feet.
• No traces of fire accelerant or evidence of external cause.
• Victim is typically alone at time of death, and thought to have been alive when the fire started.
• Little sign of struggle.
Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
In the following passage, we will try to understand the positions being taken up by the permanent members of the Security Council on the exploding human rights crisis unfolding in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), international media reported on Thursday.
IGI Securities Limited - Investor Kit - Top News
"We in the armed forces, being mandated to secure everybody, are stepping up also or leveling up our intelligence efforts so that before they can launch that barbaric act of exploding human beings in the middle of the crowd will be prevented,"Sobejana said.
Westmincom on guard against suicide bombings
The focus is especially on the exploding human population's impact on the planet.
Why is Africa shut out from its biodiversity issues? Why are African environmental and biodiversity issues still being designed, implemented and monitored by Western organisations despite serious scandals in the recent past?
Exploding human consumption is the driving force behind the unprecedented planetary change we are witnessing, through the increased demand for energy, land and water.
Animal population depletion -- a cause for major concern
"Exploding human consumption" has caused a massive drop in global wildlife populations in recent decades, the WWF conservation group says.
WWF report: Mass wildlife loss caused by human consumption
Today, Lesotho's experience since the 1970s is an even stronger case study of what happens when development plans ignore the reality that such efforts can be a recipe for exploding human numbers.
The population bomb is ticking
It is important to remember that, in addition to the pursuit of ever-higher profits, all the "innovations" in food production have come about to fill the need to feed an exploding human population on Earth.
Population and Food Technology
This is the new renaissance, an exploding human consciousness defying time and space, like a supernova explosion in 10 microseconds, defying established norms.
The power of human convergence
As a naturalist who has watched wilderness for so long, he knows we are witnessing a worldwide mass extinction; he sees Smithsonian scientists help US Congressmen go on safari to shoot endangered species, corrupt regional politics, and an exploding human population.
Tibet wild; a naturalist's journeys on the roof of the world
But it is the region's exploding human population--now at 42 million--that is causing many environmental problems.
What are the major threats to the Great Lakes in the United States and what's being done to address them?
It's almost incomprehensible, not to mention disappointing, that at this stage there is still doubt over whether the exploding human population is at the center of the resource, pollution, climate and sustainability crises of today.
Still debating the obvious
Since then Worldwatch has expanded the discussion about meat, explaining the complexities of the exploding human appetite for animal products.
Beefs about meat
Medical browser ?
Full browser ?