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Phoenix666 writes:

What do you want to happen to your remains after you die?

For the past century, most Americans have accepted a limited set of options without question. And discussions of death and funeral plans have been taboo.

That is changing. As a scholar of funeral and cemetery law, I've discovered that Americans are becoming more willing to have a conversation about their own mortality and what comes next and embrace new funeral and burial practices.

Baby boomers are insisting upon more control over their funeral and disposition so that their choices after death match their values in life. And businesses are following suit, offering new ways to memorialize and dispose of the dead.

While some options such as Tibetan sky burial – leaving human remains to be picked clean by vultures – and "Viking" burial via flaming boat – familiar to "Game of Thrones" fans – remain off limits in the U.S., laws are changing to allow a growing variety of practices.

Hmm, vitrification with a motion sensor-activated coffin such that passersby trigger my corpse to sit up and ask, "Is it time to make the donuts?"

Previously: "Water Cremation" (Alkaline Hydrolysis): Environmentally Friendly Disposal of Dead Bodies

Original Submission