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My Freezer Does a Better Job Than Kholat Syakhl

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CalzagheChick:
Sometimes I feel like the only person in existence actively questioning the level of decomposition of the Rav 4 bodies. Not only do I question the level of decay having been preserved underneath snow & ice for three months in minus zero temperatures/conditions EVEN WITH THE IMPENDING SPRING THAW, but  I am beginning to question my understanding of science and the laws of biology/chemistry as I've always understood them:

Freezing temperature preserve biological matter. As I resigned myself to explaining Dubinina's missing glossal tissues as the result of naturally-present microbes in the running creek bed in which the bodies were discovered, I still can't get over the fact that I've always understood those microbes, particularly those heavily documented in the study and science of decaying human bodies, aren't particularly active in sub zero temperatures. Again, this is a highly documented phenomenon. Have we gone back to spontaneous regeneration and other medieval laws of science? When you leave a piece of meat outside in room temperature conditions and above then come back to it a week later, the meat didn't turn into a crawling pile of maggots through magic and an act of God. We now know that flies and other insects laid eggs on the decaying matter, recognized by smell and heat, which flourished on the pile of rotten tissue as it produced gases and other molecules that naturally sustain the embryonic stage of life for insects.

This doesn't happen to the chicken legs that I just put in my freezer (maintained at 0 degrees.) In fact, all I need to do is pull out my chicken legs and thaw them responsibly in cold conditions to prevent those dormant microbes from going to town on my hard earned dollars and spoiling my kids' dinner. By doing this, I will find perfectly preserved meat arguably as fresh as the day it was killed or bought or whatever you want to say. So why didn't this happen with the Rav 4?

Any plates I've ever streaked in microbiology were always incubated at body temperatures: roughly 97-98 degrees Farenheit. We know that the body increases it's temperature to febrile conditions in order to burn off illness-inducing bacterial infections. Conditions in the sub zero renders most living organisms dormant if it does not kill them (as in the case of human beings who generally succumb to hypothermia rather than just systematically shut down to remain dormant until a later thaw.) Please tell me I'm not the only person that just can't explain this away.

Loose}{Cannon:
I guess the way I see it is as follows.

When they were found, the winter thaw was already begining as seen by the running water in which they were found in.  I don't know exactly how long they had been thawed out, but it appears in the recovery photos they were limp and not frozen, however, I do not know at what water temps microbs are able to start doing their work at.  I would also imagine this time of year during the thaw, critters and rodents are coming out and burrowing around in the snow looking for...... anything to scavenge.  I would also think these critters would smell the victims thawing and rotting corps 4 miles away. 

CalzagheChick:
I'd really like to know how long we'd expect this level of decomp to happen and compare it to weather records observed in 1959... just because it's the right thing to do. Clearly these corpses were unrecognizable. Three months in sub polar mountains... I don't think it adds up no matter which way you try to cut the mustard.

Do we have average yearly climate data for Kholat Syakhl?

Loose}{Cannon:
 dunno1

All good points.    I haven't exactly seen or know where to find that data, or know where to begin processing the information in regards to how it would effect the bodies.  How long after thaw would a body reach this state?

CalzagheChick:
Oh believe me... this is more of a task for the University of Tennessee to take on. Don't they have a specific forensics program that sets up labs for testing human corpse decomp? I'm pretty sure it's Tennessee. They mention it in a funny part of that stupid movie "The Blind Side" when Kathy Bates is trying to scare the boy into going to Ole Miss.

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