Stuff You Should Know - What causes rigor mortis?

Episode Date: May 12, 2009

If you've ever watched a crime drama, you know that bodies get stiff after death. But why? Explore the biochemistry behind rigor mortis in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Buffalo Park and Zoo, and sports and literary attractions too. Expand your sense of wonder today at visitmississipi.org slash family fun. Mississippi, Wanderers Welcome. Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready, are you? Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com. Join Josh and Chuck, the guys who bring you Stuff You Should Know, as they take a trip around the world to help you get smarter in a topsy-turvy economy. Check out the all-new Superstuff Guide to the Economy from HowStuffWorks.com, available now exclusively on iTunes. Hello and welcome to our podcast. We call it Stuff You Should Know with your hosts Josh Clark and Charles W. Bryant. I'm Josh Clark. We were told to call

it Stuff You Should Know. Yeah. What did you think about that opening? It was good. I still have to keep trying. Okay. Well, we'll try it next time. 100 plus episodes in. We're still working out the first 20 seconds. Still working on the kicks here. It's just not, not just the first 20 seconds, Chuck. You're right. I mean, from beginning to end, it's her key and jerky, the whole shebang. It's evolving, Josh. So, Chuck, I'll tell you who wasn't evolving for about 17 hours back in May of 2008. You want to hear about a woman named Val Thomas? Yes. And that was awesome, by the way, that set up. Thank you. Very good. Val was a 59-year-old West Virginia woman. And in May of 2008, she died. Died. Okay. 17 hours. No brain activity. Her heart was stopped. They had her

on a ventilator even during this time. She was dead. Okay. And worst of all, rigor mortis set in, right? Right, which is a surefire sign. I would think that you're dead. Yeah, because it's not even like part of the process of death. You've been dead for several hours now. And here's this new process that happens to a corpse. The weird thing is, I mean, this wouldn't necessarily be significant under any other circumstances but this, because we all go through rigor mortis. Sure. But Val Thomas woke up. She came back. You're kidding. I'm not kidding. After rigor mortis set in and everything, she's dead for 17 hours, she woke up, started talking. And she popped a breath mint and cracked her knuckles, I suppose. Yeah. And I was wondering, what would it feel

like? You know, what would your muscles feel like after rigor mortis set in? I can't imagine it feel very good. Yeah. You probably feel really sore, right? Yeah, I would imagine so. Because I mean, what is rigor mortis except for like a contraction of the muscles, right? Well, is it? It is, Chuck. Let's talk about rigor mortis today. You want to? And that's the rigor mortis set up. You have it. Very nice. Chuck and I have had fun all afternoon sending each other gross pictures of corpses in rigor mortis of stiffs, stiffs. Exactly. And that's where the term comes from. Absolutely. Have you ever heard of that book stiff by Mary Roach? I think so. Is that the pictures of dead people? No, no, no, no, no. It's a it's a book about what happens to the body

afterwards and basically what it's like to be a cadaver, all the uses for cadavers. I was, I haven't read it. I was reading the introduction today. And I was also listening to the thrash metal band rigor mortis. I saw them too. Yeah. Were you listening to them? I wasn't, but I was surprised they were able to get the domain name. It seems, I don't know, like some sort of mortuary would have been around for a while. They released their debut album in 1988. Oh, really? Yeah. So, I mean, they were probably on top of it back in the 90s. Sounds like it. But I was listening to them on last FM and I was like, rigor mortis isn't as good as I remembered. So I went over to the Children of Bodum channel and they were all right. You ever heard of them? They're pretty serious.

You should check them out. I will. But anyway, so yeah, I was prepping for this podcast reading stiff and Ms. Roach mentions that she's talking about all the ways cadavers have been used to help, you know, further humanity. Right. And one of them was there was this French scientist back in the late 19th century who was trying to find out whether or not the shroud of Turin was real or not. Okay. And he actually got his hands on cadavers and he was the first one to establish that Christ could not have been crucified through his palms because this guy determined that that would only hold about a 90 pound man or body to a crucifix. And you know how he found out by nailing cadavers to a crucifix. So it was through the wrist. Is that through the wrist?

Yeah, apparently there's like some joint. I can't remember what it's called. But I think the place where you're tibia and fibula. Oh, I hope that's right. I don't want viewer or listener mail. Is it tibia and fibula? I doubt it. Humorous? Humorous and well, anyway, we can't put it in there. Well, anyway, I am, I assume going to get some listener mail for that one. But the two bones where they come together at your wrist to connect to your metatarsal or metacarpal metacarpal, because it's carpal tunnel syndrome. Anyway, there is a hole there that you could drive a stake through and it will hold up a substantial adult sized male. Interesting. But this guy, this French physician, figured it out by nailing cadavers to a cross. And I guess the other option

was that Jesus was a 90 pound weakling, which doesn't seem likely to me. I don't know. I can't imagine they were all that well nourished back then. Yeah, but 90 pounds. Come on. Yeah, it is kind of tiny. It's slight. Sure. So cadavers. Yes. Rigor mortis. Yes. Rigor mortis, Josh. What does it mean Latin? Well, Josh, it's not so important what it stands for in Latin, because we know Latin is a dead language. Latin is suffering from rigor mortis. What is important is how it works, because that's what we're here to educate folks on. You want to talk about that? You want me to? Well, we'll both get into it. I thought one thing that was interesting is that three hours or so after a human or animal dies, it starts to happen. And then it happens from

head to toe. Yeah, which I thought was pretty interesting. Whose law is that? That would be Niceton's law. Yeah, Niceton. And he discovered this way back in 1812. The reason why it starts from head to toe, basically, they think is because you have smaller, more delicate muscle tissue right around the face. So usually it's the eyes and the mouth that require very delicate, precise movements that rigor up first, right, which is why every movie in history, every death scene with the guys eyes wide open, a friend will come by and gently shut them, maybe put a couple of half dollars over them. Oh, yeah, if it was a Western. Sure. Nice. So, okay, so rigor mortis chuck is nothing but the stiffening of the muscles, right? Yeah. Okay, let's talk physiology here

for a second, buddy. Okay. So we have two different kinds of muscle fibers, right? We've got skeletal muscle, skeletal muscles, and we have smooth muscle tissue, right? Smooth muscle tissue is like your heart. It's what your heart's made of. This microscopic. Sure, it is. And then when you bundle them together, you have, you know, a muscle, what we see as a muscle, right? But yeah, they're all made up of individual fibers. And all of these are connected or are commanded by neurons, right? Yes. So you have motor neurons that command skeletal muscles. And you have fast twitch muscles, which are the ones that require precise movement. So your fast twitch neurons are the ones controlling like your eye movement, your tongue, that kind of thing. Right. And then

you have kind of the big oafish neurons of the physiology world. Those are slow twitch neurons. That was a good oaf imitation, by the way. Thank you very much. It's very lumbering. We need to go video, Chuck. We will. Okay. So anyway, when the brain says, hey, man, raise your left arm, it transmits an electrical impulse to the neuron, which says, okay, we got to get this going. What happens is when, when this transmission takes place, there's a biochemical process that happens. You've got these calcium ions, right? Right. And they exist outside of the cell, but they like to go into the cell whenever they get a chance, right? So they'll go into the cells that make up our muscle tissue, and they kind of throw everything off balance. What they allow to happen

is that these two proteins to connect. We have two different kinds of skeletal muscle fibers. I know what they're called. Let's hear it. Myosin and actin. Okay. And myosin makes up thick filament fibers, right? And then actin makes up thin filament fibers. And when you connect the two, when myosin and actin connect to one another, they're molecules, right? Yep. Then you have a contraction. So calcium ions allow myosin and actin to connect, which makes your muscle contract. So to get a muscle to relax, you have to uncouple myosin and actin and through oxygen, through an aerobic process. When we breathe in oxygen, some of it goes to produce this stuff called adenosine triphosphate. ATP? ATP. Sure. And that stuff actually decouples myosin and actin,

causing the muscles to relax. Yep. When we're dead, though, we have no problems. Well, yeah. Number one, we're not breathing anymore. So there's no oxygen, which means we're not producing ATP any longer. But secondly, apparently those calcium ions, their natural state is trying to get into the cell. Right. So there's a buildup of calcium ions, which means your muscles all start to contract, hence rigor mortis. There you have it. That's it. Dr. Clark. Thank you. That is not it, though, Josh. Oh, it's not. Okay. I stand corrected. Well, what's important about rigor mortis is what we should talk about next. And we know how it happens, and you can become stiff. And it's, you know, funny to play with a stiff dead body. We don't know that.

Put them in like silly positions. Yeah, it's a good time. But it can actually be used at things like crime scenes. Oh, it can. Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Do we need to talk about that? Well, yeah. Well, how about this? You said that it sets in after three hours. Yes. Well, not always. Well, okay. About how long does it last? Well, it lasts up to 18 hours, 12 to 18 hours. Okay. And then it fades away again. I've heard up to 3672. Just doing side research on this, it seems like nobody can say definitively how long it lasts. Well, it depends on a lot of things. Okay. Well, what, what do they depend on? Well, temperature is one obvious thing. Temperature, Josh, is one thing. Right.

It's pretty obvious. If it's warmer, it'll speed up rigor mortis and it'll also go at a slower pace or I'm sorry, faster pace. Right. So it sets in faster, but it lasts a shorter amount of time, right? Right. Because basically it creates a good environment for bacteria for the decay process, which starts after rigor mortis. Right. And ultimately, that's what gets rid of rigor mortis. Right. This process called autolysis. And that is basically where the cells kill themselves. Yeah. The enzymes themselves basically break down the cellular structure. And this is the case for the cells that make up muscle tissue, right? Right. So then as these cells decompose, the muscles can no longer hold an erection and you're no longer

in a state of rigor mortis. Very nice, Josh. Thank you. I'm proud of you. Thanks. When it's cold on the other flip side of the coin, it'll slow the process down. So if you die outside in the freezing cold, like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, he was a stiff. He probably wasn't just frozen in that scene. He probably had rigor mortis. Probably. Yeah. And it was frozen at the same time. And it would have lasted a long time. I've heard that it can last up to like 28 days under the right conditions. Yep. If you're freezing out there for sure. So physical exertion, just prior to death, that's another thing that can affect it. Yeah. Because your muscles are already contracted. Exactly. Or if you're drowning or something, you're already, you're already starved

of oxygen. So you're not producing ATP anyway. So it can set it immediately, right? Which is called the cataviric spasm, right? I actually saw a beaver undergo a cataviric spasm once. Really? Yeah. When I was in Tennessee, I saw a beaver get hit by a car and it went, uh, and just immediately died because like the next day I was driving down the same stretch of road and the beaver was in the same position, making the same face that it was the moment it died. It was crazy. I saw something undergo a cataviric spasm. Wow. Yeah. So, uh, you know, if police are investigating a crime scene and someone is still, uh, you know, like got their finch clenched around their purse or something, then that means they might have died while in a struggle against an attacker.

Sure. So that can, that can help out the cops. Uh, and then fat distribution is another one. Uh, fat is an insulator as we both know, because we're very warm guys. So what would that mean? Would I, would I, would you and I undergo rigor mortis more quickly or less quickly? More slowly. Okay. More fat. Huh. And then age is another thing. If you have low muscle mass, like if you're a little kid, if you're really old, um, or I guess I should say elderly, it's a more sensitive way to say it. Right. Either way, they're going to undergo rigor mortis. That'll happen a lot faster too. So, huh, those are some things that can affect the, the speed of the onset and the pace. But because of that, all those different, um,

circumstances surrounding rigor mortis and prolonging it or, you know, shortening it, it's not quite that precise. Right. So there's a bunch of other stuff that, that forensic crime scene investigators use or prefer to use over rigor mortis to establish time of death. Correct. Yeah. And it's not just time of death too. You can also tell if a body has been moved, postmortem, which is usually a big, uh, clue toward finding out kind of, if there was foul play, probably, or if there were teenagers around afterward. Yeah. I guess so. Playing with the body. Uh, were you talking about liver mortis? Oh, that's one thing. Yeah. That's a good one. I like that one. Yeah. Liver mortis is when, um,

all the blood cells basically and all the blood go to the place where it's lowest. So like if you're lying on your back, the blood's going to pool in your back, or if you're, if you're on your side and your face is face down on the concrete, your face is going to be flush with blood. Exactly. It's pretty gross. Also known as levidity. Exactly. For food lovers, there's no place on earth like Mississippi where sweet, spicy, and smoky flavors satisfy your spirits. Wherever you wander, plan today, visit Mississippi.org slash dining Mississippi Wanderers Welcome. In 1968, five black girls dressed in oversized military fatigues were picked up by the police in Montgomery, Alabama. I was tired and just didn't want to take it anymore.

The girls had run away from a reform school called the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, and they were determined to tell someone about the abuse they'd suffered there. Picture the worst environment for children that you possibly can. I believe Mount Megs was patterned after slavery. I didn't understand why I had to go through what I was going through and for what. I'm writer and reporter Josie Duffy-Rice, and in a new podcast, I investigate how this reform school went from being a safe haven for black kids to a nightmare, and how those five black girls changed everything. All that on Unreformed. Listen to Unreformed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And there's another one too, right? There is. You're talking about Algor Mortis, Algor Mortis? Yeah, that's a good one. It has to do with PowerPoint presentations. Right. Actually, that's just the cooling off of the body until it matches the room temperature. Right. And that happens at a predictable rate too, right? It's like one and a half to two degrees Fahrenheit per hour. Yeah. So that's a pretty good way of calculating time of death, usually.

Absolutely. Unless the person had a fever. True. Yeah, because you're generally assuming that the person starting out at 98.6, and I mean, if they were sick and had a fever, that's going to set it off by a couple of hours. Right. I think the official body temperature changed, though, didn't it? Did it? I'm pretty sure I read that a few years ago. It changed by a 0.01 degree or something.

Oh, okay. I'll have to look into that. And we will determine this and follow up on that. Sounds good, Chuck. Another thing the cops can do is look at the contents of your stomach just like they did in Jaws. Yeah. When they cut the shark open. Or in 7. Oh, did they do that in 7?

The gluttony guy, yeah. Oh, right. Gnarly. And that can, obviously, you can see how much your food is digested the last thing you ate, and that can gauge how long you've been dead. And then my favorite. Insect activity. Insects, yes.

Yeah. I think, as we all know, dead things tend to attract flies and other insects. And that is because they are feeding on your fluids. Yeah. They're not just there because of the smell. And boy, this is interesting. They're feeding on your fluids, Josh. Well, what's fascinating is somebody who's clever enough to figure out, hey, we know so much about, like in the U.S., the blue bottle fly and every stage of its development.

And it develops so quickly. Right. And its lifespan happens over such a short period of time. We can walk up and say, oh, there's maggots and they're blue bottle fly maggots. So we know that this body's only X number of hours dead. Right. Or if they hit the pupa stage or the adult stage, you know, we can use these stages of these flies and maggots burrowing around in somebody's dead corpse

to determine how long ago they died. That fascinates me. Pretty cool stuff. Yeah. I think we should talk about body farms sometime soon. I think we should do a podcast on body farms. We should. And then forensic pathology period. I know John Fuller wrote a good article on that.

Let's do it. We'll do a whole suite of just, you know, corpse stuff. Sure. Sweet. Sounds good. All right. So Chuck, I think with that promise, we've pretty much reached the end of rigor mortis. Right.

Well, let's hope not. Auto license is starting to set in. We're starting to decompose. I'm a little gamey. I can tell you that. I can agree with that. So does that mean that it's listener mail time? I believe so.

Let's do listener mail then. And I think all of you friends out there listening should make note. We plugged nothing today. Yeah, that's right. Producer Jerry's gave us the thumbs up, baby. In fact, we refuse to plug anything because we don't want you to read our blog or to buy our spoken word out. Let's reverse psychology.

We refuse to plug. Very nice. The anti-plug. So it's listener mail time. It is. So Josh, this comes to us from David in Atlanta right here. Hey, I know Atlanta. And David is commenting on our Ponzi podcast.

Wait, wait, wait, Chuck. You can't just say it like that. I don't know what you're talking about. Do you know what I'm talking about? Okay. Wait, Chuck. We're not proceeding until you say it correctly. Just let me read.

Okay. Um, this is from David. I was listening to your podcast about the Ponzi scheme. Happy? Yes. And it reminded me of a company, quote unquote, that I did some work for a few years back in Atlanta. He names a company, but I won't name it.

They were running a real estate-based Ponzi scheme, and they hired his company to come in and work on their computers like an IT deal. And he said he knew something fishy was going on. He saw a few red flags in just a couple of days that he was there. There was a high level of security for a small company. The owner of the company had a personal bodyguard, and there were several security guards in the little tiny office. Second, the pitch that the sales staff were giving,

promised typical Ponzi scheme results, high return, that kind of thing. And this is, to me, the big red flag, is he said that they would not let anyone from Georgia invest in their company. Really? They're based out of Atlanta, and they wouldn't let anyone in Georgia invest in their company. Huh. So he suspected this was a big cover-up and a big scheme, and it turns out that it was.

It only lasted about a month, and he heard that they had been operating before that, though clearly because they built people out of about 70 million bucks. Holy cow. And his company did not even get paid, and that seemed David's story. Wow. Well, thanks a lot, David. First-hand account. Hope things have come around again since then for your company.

Thank you. If you have any fascinating stories about Ponzi schemes, or pyramid schemes, or any kind of scheme whatsoever, or you just want to say what up to Chuck and I, Chuck and me, you can send us an email to stuffpodcast at howstuffworks.com. For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit howstuffworks.com. And be sure to check out the stuff you should know blog on the howstuffworks.com homepage. In 1968, five black girls were picked up by police after running away from a reform school in Mt. Megs, Alabama.

I'm writer and reporter Josie Duffy-Rice, and in a new podcast, I investigate the abuse that thousands of black children suffered at the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, and how those five girls changed everything. Listen to Unreformed on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.