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Animals (including humans) may be Buried alive intentionally (as a form of Torture , Murder or Execution ), voluntarily (as a Stunt , with the intention to escape), accidentally (e.g. under rubble due to a disaster or collapse of a building or cave), or unintentionally (in the mistaken belief that the living person is in fact Dead ). PHYSICS AND BIOLOGY If interment (burial) is not reversed within a short period of time, it rapidly leads to , Dehydration , Starvation , or (in cold Climate s) Exposure . Although human survival may be briefly extended in some Environment s as body Metabolism slows, in the absence of Air , loss of Consciousness will take place within 2 to 4 minutes and Death by asphyxia within 5 to 15 minutes. Permanent brain damage through oxygen starvation is likely after a few minutes, even if the person is rescued before death. If fresh air is accessible in some way, survival is more likely to be on the order of days (in the absence of serious injury). A person trapped with air to breathe can thus last a considerable time, and burial has been used as a very cruel method of execution, lasting sufficiently long for the victim to comprehend and imagine every stage of what is happening (being trapped in total darkness with very limited or no movement) and to experience great psychological and physical torment including Panic and extreme Claustrophobia . The apparent ability of humans to enter such states of Suspended Animation , which is commonly reported across many tribal and other cultures, has not been scientifically tested. Yet suspended animation in humans is currently undergoing testing, as it has been shown that Hibernation Induction Trigger may have the potential to induce hibernation in humans. {Link without Title} Other Meditative techniques of Biofeedback (such as Yoga ) have been shown capable of temporarily slowing Heart Rate or Metabolism significantly. ACCIDENTAL At least one report of accidental burial goes back to the 13th Century. Hundreds of instances of accidental burials were documented in the 1600s during Epidemic s of Plague , Cholera , and Smallpox . Revivals have been triggered by dropped coffins, grave robbers, embalming, and attempted dissections. Fearing premature burial, George Washington , on his deathbed, made his servants promise not to bury him until three days after his death. Patients in the 1990s have been documented as accidentally being bagged, trapped in a steel box, or sent to the Morgue . "Just Dying to Get Out", snopes.com, 9 June 1999 Count Karnice-Karnicki of Belgium patented a rescue device in 1897, which mechanically detected chest movement to trigger a flag, lamp, bell, and fresh air. Along similar lines, in Great Britain various systems were developed to save those buried alive, including breakable glass panels in the coffin lid and pulley systems which would raise flags on the surface (without air supply, as in the Italian model, this naturally would be useless without vigilant guards above ground). In 1995, an Italian coffin manufacturer introduced a model with a beeper and intercom system. These are all examples of Safety Coffin s. AS A MEANS OF EXECUTION In ancient Rome a Vestal Virgin convicted of violating her vows of Celibacy was "buried alive" by being sealed in a cave with a small amount of bread and water, ostensibly so that the goddess Vesta could save her should she have been truly innocent. The two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh , (last Guru of the Sikhs ), aged between seven and nine years, were buried alive in a brick-mortar masonry by the Muslim kings of India as a punishment for refusing to embrace Islam . In medieval Italy, unrepentant murderers were buried alive. This practice is referred to in passing in canto XIX of Dante 's Inferno . In the . Japanese soldiers buried alive Chinese civilians and captured Prisoners Of War during the Rape Of Nanking {Link without Title} . VOLUNTARY BURIAL On rare occasions some people actually voluntarily arranged to be buried alive, reportedly as a demonstration of their controversial ability to survive such an event. In one story taking place around 1840 , an India n Fakir is said to have been buried in the presence of an English military officer and under the supervision of the local Maharajah , by being placed in a sealed bag in a wooden box in a vault. The vault was then interred, earth was flattened over the site, and crops were sown over the place for a very long time. The whole location was guarded day and night to prevent Fraud , and the site was dug up twice in a ten month period to verify the burial, before the fakir was finally dug out and slowly revived in the presence of another officer. The fakir said that his only fear during his "wonderful sleep" was to be eaten by underground worms. This event is highly suspicious as, according to current medical science, it is not possible for a human to survive for a period of ten months without food, water and air. {Link without Title} Since many who have tried this feat died as a result, being voluntarily buried alive is not legal in India. In 2003, performer David Blaine underwent a burial within a tank of water, which allowed for above-ground viewing, for a duration of 7 days. {Link without Title} Later on Blaine underwent a 44 day isolation, hanging in midair in a 7ft by 7ft by 3ft Perspex box in front of a live random street audience, supposedly without food. {Link without Title} ''Being Buried Alive'' (. People in Los Angeles , San Francisco , Vancouver and Toronto had the opportunity to be buried alive in a real Coffin for fifteen minutes. As a framework program monochrom members held lectures about the history of the science of determining death and the medical cultural history of "buried alive". MYTHS AND LEGENDS An Urban Legend circulated by E-mail , The Bad Old Days claims that the English Idiom "saved by the bell" originated in medieval rope systems to alert surface dwellers in the case of accidental burial. In fact, the phrase originated in the sport of Boxing , and there is no evidence of a widespread fear of live burial in the Middle Ages . Likewise, the term "dead ringer" has its origin in Horse Racing , and the unrelated phrase "graveyard shift" arose in the 20th Century.http://historymedren.about.com/od/dailylifesociety/a/bod_dead.htm The popular TV show Mythbusters tested the myth to see if someone could survive being buried alive for two hours before being rescued. One host Jamie Hynneman tried it. However, due to the coffin bending under the stress of the dirt used to cover it, the experiment was prematurely aborted. The myth was shown not to be true. IN POPULAR CULTURE
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