There are several corpse farms in America.

Have you ever imagined building a corpse farm on a beautiful university campus? Three universities in the United States believe that corpse research has high academic value and have built corpse farms on campus. The three universities are West Carolina State University, University of Tennessee in Knoxville and University of Texas in San Marcos. In this article, you will learn about the corpse farm and its role in school education and criminal investigation. The first corpse farm (officially named Institute of Forensic Anthropology, University of Tennessee) was founded by Dr. William Bass in 197 1 year. Because the police always ask Dr. Beth to help analyze the body in criminal cases, he thinks it is necessary to study the decomposition process of the human body. At first, the organization was small, with only one body. Now it has developed into a research field with an area of about 12000 square meters and about 40 corpses at any time. After the publication of patricia cornwell's novel "Dead Farm" in 1995, the institute gained great fame, so it was nicknamed "Dead Farm". In the corpse farm, the corpse placed in the designated place naturally decomposes. Students of forensic anthropology should study how the environment affects the corpse and its decomposition speed. Where did these bodies come from? At the beginning of Dr. Bass's corpse farm, unclaimed corpses were used in the forensic autopsy department. Later, people began to donate bodies to forensic anthropology research institutions. There are no specific standards or principles to be observed in corpse farms, but safety and privacy should be guaranteed. Corpse farms vary in size. The corpse farm of the University of West Carolina is a square structure with a side length of about18m, which can accommodate 6 ~ 10 corpses at the same time. The corpse farm of the University of Tennessee covers an area of about12,000 square meters and can accommodate about 40 corpses. The corpse farm in Texas is even bigger: the corpse farm of the University of Texas in San Marcos covers an area of about 20,000 square meters. The research focus of each corpse farm is different. The research field of the University of Tennessee corpse farm is extensive, including the decomposition and decomposition of corpses under different conditions, such as buried, unburied, underwater and even in the trunk of a car. The corpse farm in West Carolina mainly studies the decomposition process of corpses in the mountains of Carolina. The corpse farm in Texas also provides research data in specific areas, and forensic anthropologists in other areas such as New Mexico are also waiting for the research data in Texas, so as to conduct a comprehensive study on the decomposition and decay of corpses in desert climate. Usually, the corpse yard will store the received corpses in the cold storage (the same as the cold storage in the morgue), and then number the corpses and put them in a specific location in the corpse yard. The staff will carefully draw and record the parking position of each body. Students will learn how to organize the chain of evidence in the process of studying corpses. In the process of handling criminal cases, it is very important for autopsy personnel to make autopsy records. In this way, the integrity of the evidence or the custody of the body will not be in doubt at the legal level. There are bodies with different decomposition time on the corpse farm. Students practice finding, collecting and moving the remains of dead bodies. The remains will be taken to the laboratory for further analysis and research. After the research, the remains can be returned for burial at the request of the family members of the deceased, and unclaimed remains will be stored in the bone collection department of the research field. The University of Tennessee in Knoxville claims to have collected more than 700 bones. The corpse farm in Texas, USA, covers the corpse with steel wire, which can prevent the coyotes from taking the corpse away. For small-scale corpse farms in West Carolina, fences can play a protective role. There are more bodies than students. In 2006, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville had more corpses and bones (about 900 in the Department of Skeleton, about 700 in the Department of Skeleton and about 40 in the corpse farm) than the current Asian students (673 undergraduates and graduate students). Now let's see what scientists are studying here. Scientists can study the natural decay of human corpses and the influence of rotting corpses on the surrounding environment in the corpse farm. For example, social insects thrive on corpses. Digestive enzymes released by rotting corpses will kill plants and affect the surrounding vegetation. Forensic anthropologists can determine the age, gender, race and figure of the deceased by looking at the bones. Generally speaking, there is little difference in the bones of children of different sexes before puberty, so it is impossible to judge the sex of the dead child through the bones. The sex of an adult deceased can be easily determined by bones. The easiest way is to look at the size of bones-usually men's bones are bigger than women's, especially at muscle joints. There are great differences in pelvis between different sexes. The most obvious thing is that the upper opening of the female pelvis (the internal size of the pelvis) is large, which is convenient for childbirth. Skull can also provide clues for sex determination. Men's foreheads tend to lean backwards, while women's foreheads are rounder. A woman's chin is usually sharp, while a man's chin is square. In Buenos Aires, in the office of the Argentine forensic anthropology research group, students are splicing unidentified bones. The research group was established in 1984 to help investigate the missing population during the military dictatorship (1976 ~ 1983). Not every bone can provide clues to determine the age or age of the deceased. For very young children, forensic anthropologists may study the characteristics different from those of adults, such as whether the teeth have fallen out, but this method is obviously not suitable for older victims. Other methods are needed to identify older victims, one of which is to study the ribs of the corpse. With the increase of age, the place where the end of the rib meets the cartilage on the spine will become rougher and rougher from the original smooth state. So the thicker the ribs, the older the victim is. But no matter which method is adopted, forensic anthropologists can't completely determine the age of the deceased, and can only judge the approximate age range. Forensic anthropologists generally classify the deceased as African, Asian or European when determining the race of the deceased. This job is not simple. The biggest difference between people of different races is the skull. The distance between eyes or the shape of teeth can be used to judge the race and more specific genetic background of the deceased. For example, ethnic groups in some parts of Asia have different characteristics from ethnic groups in other parts of Asia. In fact, the differences within races are much greater than those between ethnic groups. According to the age, sex, race, bones and other measurement data of the deceased, the approximate height and weight of the deceased can be determined. The corpse farm can provide a lot of valuable information, but some people still object to the study of the corpse farm. When I heard that the University of Texas planned to build a corpse farm, some residents in nearby San Marcos said it was unacceptable. Some people are worried about the bad smell and terrible sight of the corpse farm, and some even think that there may be coyotes hovering around the city with rotting corpses. So the university chose a new site, but at this time vultures in Texas hindered the construction progress. The public is worried that the corpse farm will attract vultures and other raptors and threaten planes taking off and landing at low altitude at nearby airports. Later, the University of Texas announced that the corpse farm would be built in an area exceeding 1 1,200 hectares, at least 1 1,600 meters away from any property in the area, thus alleviating people's worries about the corpse farm. The final location of the corpse farm is remote and secret, which has been recognized by local residents. In addition to the above concerns, people are also worried that the corpse farm will cause viruses and spread diseases. But the managers of the corpse farm will try their best to avoid these phenomena. The corpse farm will not accept any corpses found to be infected with infectious diseases. Any corpse carrying hepatitis, tetanus and other germs is not allowed to enter the research field. In fact, the body itself will also stop the spread of diseases. In the process of decomposition, the pathogenic tissue will also decompose, so that the corpse will not spread germs. The results of corpse research in a certain environment are only effective in this environment, and the United States has a vast territory and needs to build more corpse farms. The current data of corpse research can be applied to Georgia and Virginia, but in Arizona and New Mexico with desert climate, these data may not be accurate, because the degree of decomposition of corpses in those places is very different. So it is necessary to build a corpse farm in arid Texas. Of course, it is best to set up one in every state in the United States, but it may take many years to achieve this goal. The corpse farm needs corpses for research, and some corpses for research are obtained through donations. If you are interested in donating the remains to forensic anthropology institutions, you need to contact the corpse farm to arrange the donation before you die. At the same time, you should also tell your family or lawyer about this decision, and ask them to inform the corpse farm to collect your body after your death. Usually, the school corpse farm will collect your body after the funeral. However, if it is far away, your heirs may have to pay for the transportation of the remains.