[Ferret Overlord]

Doesn't matter, topic has been revived. Another point:

A few hundred years ago (I think) some scientists wanted to prove the existance of a soul. They got a person who was dying and but them on a scale. At the exact time the person's heart stop beating, the scale moved (I think it was about 0.2 kg less, not sure).

Considering that the amount of matter in the universe is constant, doesn't that mean that the lost mass (the 'soul') must be somewhere in the universe?

Well first of all, the person breathing may have made the scale shift to a higher measurement. When their breathing stopped, so did the movement, and the the measurement was gone.

Not to mention, depending on where they were a few hundred years ago, they might have been under some 'pressure' from the church.

[Nuu™™]

Doesn't matter, topic has been revived. Another point:

A few hundred years ago (I think) some scientists wanted to prove the existance of a soul. They got a person who was dying and but them on a scale. At the exact time the person's heart stop beating, the scale moved (I think it was about 0.2 kg less, not sure).

Considering that the amount of matter in the universe is constant, doesn't that mean that the lost mass (the 'soul') must be somewhere in the universe?

Well first of all, the person breathing may have made the scale shift to a higher measurement. When their breathing stopped, so did the movement, and the the measurement was gone.

Not to mention, depending on where they were a few hundred years ago, they might have been under some 'pressure' from the church.

As for the first point, I don't think that is right, because wouldn't the scale be moving up and down while the were breathing?

As for the second point, I think you might be right.

[Ferret Overlord]

I never said they were geniuses back then. Most people earlier on weren't actually scientists. Look at their doctors! An EAR SCREW?! OW!


Woah, damn! I thought this was MY topic! XD I have a thread that's called "My Theory"

[Neraphym]

If the person was lying on their back, I'd imagine breathing would affect the scale. To breathe in increases your mass, but will exert a sucking force, keeping it in balance. When you breathe out, your mass decreases, but by blowing, you create a downward force, also keeping your weighed mass constant. When this is stopped, the air will escape, but the downward force wouldn't be there. This is my best guess as to the change in the scale. That, or maybe the dead guy farted. That is known to happen, especially with old people...

[Ferret Overlord]

Not to mention other things that are of much relation to flatulence

[Cspace]

At the exact time the person's heart stop beating, the scale moved (I think it was about 0.2 kg less, not sure).

Considering that the amount of matter in the universe is constant, doesn't that mean that the lost mass (the 'soul') must be somewhere in the universe?

Well first of all, the person breathing may have made the scale shift to a higher measurement. When their breathing stopped, so did the movement, and the the measurement was gone.

If the person was lying on their back, I'd imagine breathing would affect the scale.

I don't think breathing would provide enough force to increase one's measured mass by .2kg (a decrease in measured mass would require a force prior to the shift to disappear). When one is dying, I would think that the force would be even less than normal prior to when the heart stops. The force would be there, but I don't know that it would be enough to cause any significant readings.

However, I think if we were to take respiration into account as a potential explanation, something to question, perhaps, is the volume of one's lungs. How much air can be taken in and how much does it weigh? I think this may be more significant than a force from exhaling, but I'm not really a human biology person, so I'm not positive of that.

Also, on another subject, astrophysically speaking the amount of matter in the universe doesn't necessarily need to be constant. Not that it's significant here , but just felt like saying it. Perhaps I can explain why if someone who's interested catches me on AIM or MSN.

(and I'm replying because this caught my eye, but I'm not saying this to portray that ghosts do or don't exist)

[Ferret Overlord]

I think the most reasonable answers are either that fecal release relieved a small weight or that the scientists were under pressure from the church.