The oldest mummies in the world are turning into black slime

[vellavu]

The oldest mummies in the world are turning into black slime

A collection of mummified human remains found in northern Chile has been turning into black slime due to rising humidity levels, and Chilean researchers are at a loss for how to stop it.

More than 100 of these mummies - which are at least 7,000 years old - have started to turn gelatinous, and local officials have applied to the United Nations' cultural agency, UNESCO, to have them recognised as a world heritage site.

Of course, getting approval won’t save the mummies on its own, but the researchers hope that increased attention from the international community will help them find solutions to the black goo.

We need more Xanders to turn them back!

 

[Buffy Summers]

Why aren't they in temperature controlled cases?

 

[brinkster130]

I hope they figure something out...it would be a shame for them to be destroyed.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

Why aren't they in temperature controlled cases?

Good question! I thought maybe these were mummies at like outdoor sites or something. Maybe they don't want to disturb the environment cause it's sacred or something? If they are mummies that are already dug up and in a museum then they should be in environmentally control and sealed cases. Also that's really gross.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Things they don't teach you in Home Ec.
Should a mummy leak black fluid is that a case of the mummy cooking?
Alternatively.
The mummy is only said to do cooking when there is talk of a mummification process.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Humidity has to increase with all the fuel being burned. Each molecule of octane, when burned, becomes eight molecules of carbon dioxide and nine molecules of water and a lot of fuel being burned means more humidity in the air. Constant temperature would help but reduced humidity would be more of a help.

 

[DeadlyDuo]

The mummies have probably reached a point where the decay is irreversible. Cooling the temperature to slow the decay might be an option but they're so old there is probably no way to completely stop it.

 

[GwenRaiden]

She looks the same, if not better than me, when it is finally bedtime and can collapse on the sofa. Being a mummy is hard.